"They looked like something out of the SAS, dressed head to toe in black, with masks and gloves."

These are the words of a shop assistant at a petrol station, after burglars made off with up to £6,000 in cash and about 20,000 cigarettes.

Thieves raided the Penny Petroleum filling station in Hull Road, Dunnington, near York, between about 10.30pm on Sunday and 1am on Monday.

They forced their way in through a locked fire exit and stole all the cash they could lay their hands on, plus about 100 boxes - each containing 200 cigarettes.

The shop was closed at the time, but shop assistant James Monday found the mess when he opened up on Monday morning, and witnessed the scenes on the shop's CCTV footage.

He said: "Everything looked normal from the outside, because the door was shut so you couldn't see anything.

"But when I opened the door the whole shop stank of booze. They poured rum everywhere.

"It seems to have been a really professional job.

"They seemed to know what they were doing. They went round and knocked all the lights out so you couldn't see much on the CCTV.

"We think they came in at about 11.30pm. They opened the fire exit, which was locked, with no effort at all. They were messing around in here for about 45 minutes before they smashed up the CCTV system, and you could see them filling black bin bags full of cigarettes.

"They looked like something out of the SAS, dressed head to toe in black, with masks and gloves. It was pretty scary.

"If you include the damage to the shop, then they've probably cost us about £10,000."

The shop used to be a Costcutter, but recently changed hands.

A police spokesman said: "The burglars disabled the forecourt lighting to prevent the CCTV from working. They also damaged the CCTV recording system."

Anyone with information should phone police on 0845 60 60 247.

Updated: 10:10 Wednesday, April 19, 2006