A thief stole a £60,000 Porsche and backed it into an off-licence before making off with a boot load of booze.  

Surrey Comet:

A stolen car - described as a black Porsche Cayenne with a spare wheel on its back - crashed through the front door of Hartley’s in Banstead High Street just across the road from Banstead police station at around 4.45am on Monday, November 23.

From Tuesday: Thief uses Porsche Cayenne to ram-raid off-licence - then does a celebration lap of Banstead High Street

After the break-in the thief did a lap around the block before fleeing down Croydon Lane.

Surrey Comet:

A Porsche Cayenne - Like the one that crashed through the front door of Hartley's

Fil Oliveira, 24, has been the shop manager of the off-licence for three years and said he had seen very little crime during his time at Hartley’s.

He would not disclose the total cost of the damage and the robbery.

Mr Oliveira first heard about the attack when he was called in to the store by police at around 8.45am on Monday.

He said: "The shelves were messed up.

"There was glass on the floor. The door was caved in.

"I was pretty shocked - it is Banstead after all.

"There was a lot of damage for what it was, but we are open and back to normal, 10 ‘til 10."

Surrey Comet:

Hartley's staff had to clean glass from the floor after the raid

His neighbours were shocked by the theft, but felt there was "only so much" they could do to safeguard against a similar attack, and so weren’t overly worried.

A woman who worked in J. Goldings newsagents next door said she had been asked by a lot of customers whether the attack worried her.

She said: "What can you do? There are only so many precautions you can take."

Surrey Comet:

The wooden panel replacing the glass door that was destroyed when a stolen Porsche Cayenne crashed into it

Colin Pitchley, director of nearby Banstead Plumbing and Property Maintenance was told when the thief reversed into the door he damaged the back door, preventing it from opening.

The thief then clumsily forced bottles of champagne into the front of the car and "dropped more than he put in apparently".

He said: "It is a bit much seeing as we are opposite a police station. And everybody saw it: the woman upstairs, people in the street.

"All this for what? A couple of bottles of champagne?"

"It just seems a ludicrous thing to do."

Surrey Comet:

A few hours after the attack, Hartley's was "open and back to normal, 10 ‘til 10"

Anyone who witnessed the raid or with any further information is asked to call Surrey Police on 101, quoting reference 45150106235.

Or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.