THIEVES smashed their way into a family garage business and stole a limited edition £7,000 car which they used to carry away a massive safe with £1,500 inside.

The gang were caught on CCTV speeding away from Dowsett Motors in Wyke Regis, Weymouth, early yesterday.

Car garage owner Nigel Dowsett has put up a £2,000 reward in a bid to trace the thieves who broke in and dragged the quarter of a tonne safe out to a Subaru Impreza that was on sale on the forecourt of the garage in Portland Road.

He branded the thieves ‘scumbags’ and ‘toe rags’ and urged residents to help the police find the gang.

He said: “Our business means a lot to us so that’s why I’m putting up the £2,000 reward.

“I’m not having the dirty scumbags nicking from me.”

Mr Dowsett had arrived in Spain at his brother’s home to meet his mother and return to England with her when he received a call about the theft.

It is believed there must have been a group of thieves involved as the safe is a three-foot steel cube which needs four men to move it.

Mr Dowsett added: “How they dragged it beggars belief. I just want people to be aware if they know where the car is they will get £2,000 if what they say leads to a conviction.”

The thieves found the car keys inside the garage and were seen on CCTV moving the vehicle to the back doors in Langton Avenue to take the safe.

A cheque book, bank and credit cards and a red cash tin were also inside the grey steel safe – which has a brass handle.

The Subaru Impreza P1 Coupe is number 204 of 1,000 that were made and was on sale for £6,995.

They are popular with car enthusiasts and it was the highest priced car at Dowsett Motors.

Mechanic Tony Shurey arrived for work at 7.30am yesterday to find the doors smashed in on the Langton Avenue side of the garage and the counter in the front office damaged and moved to make room to get the safe out.

He said: “I noticed the doors had been forced so I rushed into the workshop to see if all the tools and equipment were still there and I noticed the alarm had been smashed up and phoned the police.”

Mr Dowsett’s son Adam, tyre manager, said the thieves must have smashed their way through the back doors to get in.

He checked the CCTV footage and said the break-in would have taken place between 4am and 4.30am yesterday.

He said: “I’m still sick about it.

“They literally ripped into the front desk to pull the counter away to move the massive safe.

“They dragged it all the way down to the back doors and the money was for wages day.”

His brother, Andrew Dowsett, who is workshop manager, said he hopes the car can be found before it is sold on or used for spares.

He said: “I suspect it’s been stolen to order.”

Friday’s break-in is the second time in six months Dowsett Motors has been hit by disaster. At the end of last year a water pipe on the roof of the premises burst and flooded the garage causing £30,000 worth of damage.

Although there were no cars inside, all the equipment and electrics were completely wiped out.