The owners of a Colchester shop are ready to sell up after being burgled three times in as many years.

In Wednesday's attack two men kicked in the front door of Troopers army surplus store before grabbing armfulls of specialist Para smocks worth £1,200.

The pair were seen running away from the Military Road store at about 2am.

Paula Deacon said: "There is only me and my husband Simon who run the place. We work hard and it is only a small business. We are gutted and want to sell the shop."

The very first day the store opened three years ago thieves smashed the window and stole goods from the display.

Then, on New Year's Eve burglars struck again.

This week, police were alerted to alarms going off, and witnesses saw two men running towards the town carrying bundles. The combat jackets are in the 1995 pattern now worn by the Parachute Regiment.

Mrs Deacon said: "They obviously came into the shop beforehand because that is all they took.

"We won't get the money back because I had to fix them all to make them sellable. We have lost heart.'

Selling up - Paula Deacon with the one Para jacket left at Troopers.

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