AT LEAST five shops and restaurants in the Shipley area have been broken into a Christmas crime wave.

Traders are counting the cost of broken windows, damaged doors and lost cash after raiders targeted them on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

Among the outlets affected were The Triangle off-licence, Lloyds Pharmacy, Marie Curie charity shop, Zaara’s restaurant and the Golden Bowl takeaway.

Gavin Hird, manager of The Triangle on Bradford Road, was called away from celebrating Christmas at home with his family after being alerted to the raid.

He posted on Facebook: “To whoever burgled us last night, not only did you get away with next to nothing but you took a father away from his young kids on the most important morning of the year, time that I will never get back. Shame on you.”

The shop has now reopened after the glass from the smashed front door panel and other damage was cleaned up.

He said: “I’m lucky to know a glazing man who came out on Christmas Day. His day was interrupted too.

“They took the till and the float, less than £100.”

The raider ignored the dozens of bottles of beer on display.

He said he was alerted to the broken front door by a PCSO who was the only officer on duty in Shipley and Bingley on Christmas Day and had to walk to the crime scenes that day because he did not have a licence to drive.

Mr Hird added: “The business community in Shipley needs to take on responsibility, even if it’s just a database of nuisance customers.

“I know how much pressure the police are under.”

Mr Hird said the support from locals was amazing. “We have a strong community these days,” he added.

Sharon Erangey, manager of Marie Curie on Market Square, said the shop was targeted on Boxing Day.

“They broke into the window on the front door and took a charity box. They crawled through and left lots of blood on the broken glass.”

She said the charity box had only been emptied the previous Saturday and would have only had a few pounds in it.

They also got raided a few months ago and she said that charity boxes seemed to be being taken.

At Zaara’s on Bradford Road burglars tried to smash through the front door on evening of Christmas Day but were thwarted and nothing was taken. The door was damaged badly and has had to be replaced.

A spokesman said they had been targeted a few times before when the burglars had managed to get in.

Neighbours the Golden Bowl takeaway suffered a break-in the same night and some cash was taken. This was the first time they had been broken into.

Down the road, Lloyds Pharmacy on Bingley Road was also raided on Christmas Day.

A spokesman for the company said the offenders broke in through a side window and the panel of a door.

He said the chemists would remain closed until repairs had been made.

He could not say what had been taken.

A police spokesperson confirmed that they had received reports of burglaries at The Triangle and the Marie Curie shop.

The spokesperson said enquiries were ongoing and anyone with information is asked to call police on 101 or use the live chat facility at www.westyorkshire.police.uk quoting crime reference 13180644641 for The Triangle and 13180645587 for the Marie Curie shop.