A music shop owner spoke of his anger after thousands of pounds worth of guitars were stolen before Christmas.Former salesman and local guitarist Charlie Avis fulfilled a lifetime ambitionMusi when he opened The Rock Stop in Thetford four months ago.

A music shop owner spoke of his anger after thousands of pounds worth of guitars were stolen before Christmas.

Former salesman and local guitarist Charlie Avis fulfilled a lifetime ambition when he opened The Rock Stop in Thetford four months ago.

But the 28-year-old said he was left devastated after he returned to work on Monday morning to find that 14 guitars, worth £11,000, had been stolen by burglars.

Offenders forced open a ground floor window of the shop in White Hart Street sometime between 5.30pm on Saturday December 20 and 8.55am on Monday December 22 and took the guitars and a laptop.

The stolen items included electric Fender and Yamaha guitars, acoustic Tanglewood brands, as well as an Ernie Ball music man stingray and a 30th anniversary limited edition guitar of the same type, which were worth £1,500 each.

Mr Avis said he felt saddened that he had to let some customers down who had Christmas orders.

“When I found that half of my stock was missing on Monday, I was glad they had not smashed the place up, but it is very demoralising when you are trying to make a living for yourself and do something different in Thetford.”

“This is boom time for us and our busiest time of the year and now I have lost business. We are a new business in a small town and now people think we cannot get what they want,” said.

Mr Avis said the missing guitars could be replaced, but the laptop that was stolen contained hundreds of folders and files he had been working on for the last four months to set up The Rock Stop website.

The musician added that he was investing in extra security measures at the Thetford shop, but he was bracing himself for an “astronomical” rise in insurance costs.

Anyone with information regarding the burglary is asked to contact PC Joseph Harding at Thetford police station on 0845 456 4567 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.