Police crime scene investigators work at the Boots pharmacy in Mulbarton after it was broken into. Photograph Simon Parker

Burglars raided Boots pharmacy in the quiet village of Mulbarton, near Norwich, in the early hours yesterday, and stole about £500 in cash.

The front door window of the shop in The Common was smashed and the inside of the building was ransacked, at about 4.40am.

Police were called after an alarm was triggered and crime scene investigators spent the morning at the scene. They will also be studying any CCTV footage that is available.

Boots manager Anna Serafinowicz said: “We think they took about £500 in cash from the tills, and also took some items from the make-up stand, including No 7 skin creams. They did not take any drugs.”

Another member of staff, Melanie Button, received a call from emergency services before 5am asking her to go in and switch the alarm off.

She said: “The feeling is more one of frustration than anything else; that and all the damage that has been done inside. It means we will be really busy tomorrow. But they must have known what they were doing, because when the alarm goes off, smoke automatically comes in, so they would not have been able to see anything.”

A Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service crew from Carrow also attended to make the scene safe.

It comes about a year after the Co-op in Cuckoofield Lane, Mulbarton was burgled. Thieves forced doors at the back of the premises and got away with a quantity of cigarettes. Three men were seen to leave the premises pulling a wheelie bin and a silver Ford Focus believed to have been used during the incident was later recovered in Rickinghall, near Diss.

Anyone who witnessed any suspicious activity near the pharmacy prior to or after the incident or has knowledge of the incident should contact Bethel Street CID on 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.