Ramraiders caused thousands of pounds of damage when they smashed into the front of a corner shop in York over the weekend.

Staff at Co-op store in East Parade, Heworth, were today counting the cost of the raid after the culprits escaped with thousands of pounds worth of cigarettes.

The front of the shop, refurbished only last July, was almost completely wrecked in the raid, with stock, tills, electrical wiring, the lottery terminal, the counter and the suspended ceiling all damaged.

Many shocked neighbours awoke yesterday to discover the damage, but others were woken by a huge crash as the raid took place in the early hours.

Robert Wood, owner of Ascot House guest house, said: "It happened about 2.30. We'd just gone to bed at about 2am and there was an almighty crash and when you're half asleep you don't know what's happening.

"We assumed someone had slipped on the ice and looked outside and saw what looked like a white estate car or van, which looked to be wedged in the doorway of the Co-op.

"It isn't what you expect to see on a Saturday evening.

"We thought there must be something going on and rang the police. By the time we'd got through, the car was driving off down Bull Lane."

He said it appeared that the vehicle had lined itself up across the zebra crossing before driving into the shop to avoid the bollards on either side.

Mr Wood said the 30 people staying at the guest house had been woken up by the noise and he had told them it was not a normal occurrence in East Parade.

Peter Ryan, area manager for Yorkshire Co-operatives, said the crime was a one-off in his experience.

He arrived to find the front of the shop littered with broken glass and debris and filled with the stench of stale alcohol from the spilt contents of hundreds of smashed drinks bottles.

He said: "They've given the front of the shop a very hard whack and they've stolen somewhere in the region of £5,000 worth of cigarettes.

"I'd say they've damaged between £6,000 and £8,000 worth of stock and somewhere between £8,000 and £10,000 of damage to the shop."

He said "In our area we are really fortunate that things like this generally are quite rare.

"Obviously this highlights the fact that we need to put some bollards across the front of the shop.

"But we're so close to other buildings, we didn't expect it."

He said he hoped to have the shop open for business again by today.

Det Sgt Nigel Costello said York Police were appealing for witnesses.

"If anybody has any information in relation to it or witnesses anyone acting suspiciously or saw a white estate car, we would ask them to come forward."

Updated: 09:44 Monday, February 26, 2001