Police investigating ram raid at Silver Birch Dairy in Clive

The ram-raiders used a car to bust into the Silver Birch Dairy in Clive early on Tuesday. The neighbouring Clive Pharmacy was also damaged. Photo / Gary Hamilton-Irvine

A Clive dairy has been targeted by what appears to be a group of teenage ram raiders on the second day of the school holidays.

A police spokesman said the incident took place about halfway between Napier and Hastings on Main Rd, State Highway 51, about 2.30am.

A vehicle was used to gain entry to the building for a burglary and the vehicle was left at the scene.

A crashed car remained in front of the broken storefront of Silver Birch Dairy Clive on Tuesday morning.

The dairy owners, who did not want to be named, said the incident was caught on camera and it appeared about six people, mainly teenagers, were involved.

One car crashed into the store and also badly damaged the front of the neighbouring Clive Pharmacy, they said.

The burglars used a different vehicle to make their escape. “They put the stuff in the other car and drove away,” one of the owners said.

A police spokeswoman said the second vehicle was later found abandoned on Russell Robertson Dr in Havelock North and was being examined.

One of the store owners said they could see golf clubs in the damaged car. If the dairy had not had fog cannons, the offenders would probably have stolen more.

The group took off with toilet paper, chocolates and chewing gum.

The owners have owned the shop for 11 years and, while they had been broken into a couple of months ago, they had never been ram-raided before.

They received a call at home about 2.30am from a security company. Police were already on the scene by the time they arrived.

The police spokesman said inquiries were ongoing. No arrests had been made by 3.30pm on Tuesday.

Data from insurance companies show a significant increase in claims for ram raids nationwide over the past few years.

This latest ram raid comes after a spate of crimes in Napier and Hastings in the previous school holidays, during which a Napier dairy was ram-raided, Napier Pascoes was targeted by a robbery, and a Hastings dairy owner was attacked with a hatchet during a robbery.