CCTV appeal as iPhones worth £13,000 are stolen from Shaftesbury Tesco

  • ITV Meridian's Richard Slee reports from Shaftesbury in Dorset.

Police are searching for three men who stole thousands of pounds of mobile phones from a supermarket in Dorset.

The trio entered the Tesco store in Christy’s Lane in Shaftesbury at around 6.35pm on Friday 3 February 2023.

They took just moments to grab and run off with the iPhones, which are believed to be Apple's top of the range 14 plus and pro max models, which normally sell for around £1000 each.

The theft follows a similar incident in West Sussex two months ago.

Mobile phones estimated to be worth around £10,000 were stolen from the Tesco supermarket on Hazelwick Avenue in Crawley on Thursday 29 December.

  • WATCH: The moment £10,000 worth of phones was stolen from a Tesco store in Crawley.

The men can be seen on CCTV taking the phones, which were out on display to be used for demonstrations, from the Tesco store

Dorset police say they are in contact with the police force in Sussex as part of their investigation, to investigate if the same people are responsible or whether it is a copycat incident.

Police say they also need help from the public, and no arrests have been made.

The store has now removed phones from being on display.

Credit: Dorset Police

Police Community Support Investigator Lindy Wilson, of North Dorset police, said: “We are carrying out a number of enquiries to identify the men responsible for this offence and I am releasing CCTV images of the three suspects.

“I would urge anyone who recognises them to please contact Dorset Police immediately.

"I would also ask any residents in the area with home CCTV systems to please check their footage for the evening of Friday 3 February 2023 to see if they have captured anything that might assist our enquiries.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact Dorset Police at www.dorset.police.uk/contact or by calling 101, quoting occurrence number 55230019042. Alternatively, independent charity Crimestoppers can be contacted anonymously online at Crimestoppers-uk.org or by calling Freephone 0800 555 111.

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know…