A bungling burglar drilled through a wall five bricks thick, removed an entire window and smashed his way through a ceiling, but only got away with a pouch of rolling tobacco instead of some high-value bikes.

The incompetent intruder struck at the Medway Motorcycles shop, off Rochester High Street, run by Jez Eastwood.

The thief worked hard to get in, but when he eventually got into the ground floor showroom he clearly could not work out how to get away with any of the valuable goods inside.

Flash bikes worth thousands of pounds, crash helmets, tools and a sat nav were all left untouched.

He initially wriggled his way through a small hole he had chipped away into the workshop only to discover the door to the showroom was alarmed.

In desperation, he removed a window to get out and made his way up to the first floor where he hammered down the ceiling.

Mr Eastwood, 45, pictured, believes the thief may have spent several nights working on drilling his way into his shop and, once inside, probably spent at least a couple of hours pondering what exactly he could steal.

Mr Eastwood, from Gillingham, said: "He seemed to have put a lot of work getting in here.

"But it’s beyond belief he didn’t plan how he was going to get stuff out. When I got here the next morning the place was in a right state but all I can see he has nicked is my Golden Virginia."

Mr Eastwood and other neighbouring traders in Ship Lane believe the suspect may have been hanging around for a couple of months before last Monday’s break-in.

Mr Eastwood, who has run his business for 20 years, said: "This is a close community down here. There’s no reason to come down here unless you want something."

Speedy repairs have been made to the wall, ceiling and window in order to keep the shop open.

He said: "It’s not the first time we have had break-ins down here, but at least nothing valuable was taken."