Prescriptions taken in Caversham pharmacy break-in

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A Dunedin pharmacy owner is "gutted" after prescriptions were stolen in an early morning break-in at the business today.

Caversham Pharmacy owner Stephanie Corby said the break-in had left her feeling "pretty gutted" as it was the second such incident since she bought the business in April.

She did not believe the previous owner, who had owned the business for about 17 years, had had similar issues.

Prescriptions that had been packaged up to be collected had been taken, Corby said, but the burglar had not gotten into the locked dispensary area where controlled drugs were kept in a safe.

The only damage to the pharmacy was to the door where entry was forced.

Staff had been "amazing" and were working to replace the stolen prescriptions, while customers had been very understanding.

Corby's message for the offender was to "think about who you are doing this to", as it was a small local pharmacy owned by a person with a young family to support.

She was now looking at options to upgrade the shop's security system.

Constable Nick Turner said a commercial alarm sounded at the pharmacy at about 4.40 am.

There were jemmy marks, potentially from a crowbar, on the door, and police were investigating, Turner said.