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A Banbury business owner has been left shocked and stunned after thieves burgled his coffee shop and stole his furniture repair van with tools inside it.

Laurence Hartwell, the owner of Ugly Mug coffee shop in Church Lane, woke up to find his van had been stolen – and then discovered burglars had targeted his coffee shop, during which the cash register and some Cadbury's cream eggs were stolen.

The coffee shop will be open as usual tomorrow, Thursday April 7, after the burglary led to a temporary closure today.

Thieves stole the till from inside the Ugly Mug coffee shop in Church Lane, Banbury during a town centre burglary

Laurence said: "My main bread and butter is my van and tools. It's not stuff I can easily replace.

The £2,000 worth of tools were invaluable to his furniture repair business. A specialised leather kit, which came from Italy, was worth £800 on its own.

The white Vauxhall transit style van has three signs with his company's name on it, Furniture Repair by Laurence Hartwell.

Laurence added: "They're going to struggle to re-sell some of this stuff, if they even know what it is.

This white Vauxhall works van, owned by Laurence Hartwell, has been stolen from the town centre of Banbury. Anyone who sees is asked to call police on 101.

"Unfortunately as a tradesman you can't insure your tools inside the van. It's going to cost me a fortune."

He is hopeful some of his property can be found and returned. He believes the theft and burglary happened between 10pm Tuesday April 5 and 7am Wednesday April 6.

The burglary was reported to Thames Valley Police, who have confirmed their investigation is ongoing.

Anyone with information about the van theft and burglary is urged call police on 101 quoting reference number 43220147717.

Thieves steal from two businesses owned by same Banbury man in the town centre