A SHOP owner told how masked thieves broke in before using a stolen motorbike to escape with cigarettes worth £1,700.

Geoffrey Ellis and his wife Lourdes Maria were asleep at home above the Mace store in Abbotsbury Road, Weymouth, when two thieves broke their shop door open and filled a sack with more than 300 packets of cigarettes.

Mr Ellis told how a taxi driver chased the two burglars to Weymouth swimming pool but lost them when they fled across the Marsh playing fields.

Mr Ellis said: “We live on the premises so we heard the alarm going off and I thought it was a false alarm.

“By the time I got downstairs they were gone.

“The taxi driver came back and said he had seen them with a sheet on the floor that they filled up with cigarettes.

“He chased them in his car but they were on a motorbike and they got away.”

Mr Ellis said he then discovered how many cigarettes were missing and also the damage to his door.

He said: “We are getting the door mended as they just ripped it out.

“So it’s the cost and the inconvenience.

“I would like to say thank you to the taxi driver.”

Police officers searched the area and discovered a black Yamaha motorcycle that had been stolen the day before.

Detective Constable Ed Meanwell, of Weymouth CID, said the motorbike was stolen from the Asda supermarket car park in Newstead Road and taken towards Marsh Road.

He said a witness saw two men using the motorbike the next day.

DC Meanwell said: “A member of the public saw two men on an unlit motorcycle with the rear passenger carrying a light coloured sack or duvet cover, which was believed to be full of stolen items.

“This motorcycle travelled in the direction of Knightsdale Road – it had no registration plates.

“Officers searched the area and discovered the black Yamaha motorcycle that had been stolen the evening before. No-one was arrested.”

DC Meanwell said the two men were wearing dark clothing and dark helmets or masks.

He added: “I believe these two incidents are connected and I am appealing for anyone who witnessed either the theft of the motorcycle or the burglary to contact me as soon as possible.”

Any witnesses or anyone with information about the motorbike theft at 6.25pm on Tuesday, or the burglary on Wednesday should contact Dorset Police by calling 01305 222222.