A SHOP repeatedly raided by handbag-hungry crooks could well be the most targeted in the city centre after being broken into for a fifth time.

Sands & Son, in Bank Passage, Colchester, fell victim to yet another break-in during the early hours of Wednesday morning at the hands of a hooded burglar.

In CCTV footage exclusively sent to the Gazette, the delinquent is seen forcefully throwing his body at the store’s glass door eight times before smashing through.

Once inside, the thief rushes to the corner of the shop, established in 1872, before snatching a horde of bags each worth hundreds of pounds.

They then flee the scene, leaving behind emptied shelves, a badly damaged door, and sharp shattered shards of glass scattered on the floor.

The latest burglary at Sands & Son comes after the shop was also smashed into last Thursday and follows the theft of £7,000 of stock during a raid back in October.

The business was also broken into towards the start of last year and in November a shop assistant’s purse was taken by a man posing as “charming” shopper.

Manager Qais Paiman, 37, said: “Our shop is very wide so we cannot have shutters, so we now have to put trolleys behind the door with a chain on the door.

READ MORE: Shop ransacked for a fourth time... hours before fake customer snatches £450 bag

READ MORE: Colchester handbag shop burgled for third time this year

“But I just do not know what will stop these people. I now have meetings booked with Essex Police.”

Mr Paiman, who has the sympathy of his customers, previously told the Gazette he now worries for the future of the store and the safety his staff and family.

He said: “Sometimes I am in the shop doing work quite late with my children – it would be traumatising if someone broke in while we were there.

“If it keeps carrying on like this we will not be able to continue – we are now just clinging on to the shop.”

Since the break-in Essex Police say a man has been arrested.

A spokesman said: "The incident was reported to us shortly after 6am January 25, and a suspect was quickly identified.

"A man was arrested shortly after 8.30am.

"He remains in custody and is being questioned on suspicion of a number of burglary and theft offences."