Thousands of pounds worth of electronic goods have been stolen from Xpress Games in Biggin Street in a midnight raid.

The break-in – which happened between 10.30pm on September 3 and 12.30am the following day – has lost the company about £2,000.

Xboxes and Nintendo consoles were snatched together with a red Dell laptop – with a broken screen – used by staff in the office.

Owner Chris Muckell, who has stores in Canterbury, Ashford and Folkestone, said it is the first time they have been burgled in the three and a half years trading in the Dover precinct.

He said: “We had an alarm call out. We came and opened up the shutters into the store, where we saw the games cabinet ripped open.

"It was quite a big shock – it had been going well up until that point.”

'It was quite a big shock – it had been going well up until that point.' - Owner, Chris Muckell

The thieves concentrated on taking games consoles.

Mr Muckell added: “They seem to have got to the Xbox 360 and Nintendo DS. They seem to be the two brands of consoles that we had taken.”

Police are investigating the burglary but the shop owner is convinced the thieves could be selling the products on and has appealed for residents to be vigilant if they are offered consoles or when buying from local online sites.

They can be easily identified by Xpress stickers on them.

Many of the stolen goods were taken without controllers or leads – another tell-tale sign that they could be stolen.

A stock check since the theft revealed a depository box was taken from the store room containing about four or five broken consoles.

He added: “Anything that is broken we put into a box that is processed once a month – but they took it.

“Everything has been secured now with bars and shutters.”

The store made their initial appeal on Facebook.

Officers are checking CCTV footage and have taken fingerprints.

Police spokesman Adam Westgarth said: “A computer and several games consoles are reported to have been taken and investigations are ongoing.

“Anyone with information about the burglary is asked to contact police constable Paul Bird on 101 quoting reference ZY/29231/14.”