THIEVES escaped with a haul of jewellery worth more than £40,000 after smashing a motorbike through the front door of Andre Noir jewellers in Lion & Lamb Yard, Farnham late on Thursday.

Owner of the shop, Andrew Black, was alerted to the raid by police at around midnight on Thursday (October 18), and forensics officers arrived at around 8.30am on Friday to survey the scene for evidence.

Surrey Police later confirmed officers were called to the Lion and Lamb shortly after 11.30pm, and are appealing for witnesses "after a large quantity of jewellery was taken".

Officers believe two motorbikes were used during the raid; one of which has been left at the scene and the other was used as a getaway vehicle. The motorbike left at the scene is described a light blue Honda touring bike with black pannier bags and a luggage rack.

Investigating officer, Sergeant Stephen Bullard of West Surrey CID, said: “This was a fast and calculated burglary; initial CCTV enquiries reveal that the two suspects spent around one minute in the premises before making off along West Street towards Crondall with jewellery believed to be worth in excess of £40,000.

“We recognise that this incident may cause concern and disruption within the local community. There will be a police presence in the area today while officers conduct enquiries, undertake forensic testing of items left at the scene and review nearby CCTV in order to gather evidence.”

Andre Noir is one of Farnham’s longest-running independent retailers, having had a presence in Lion & Lamb Yard for 34 years. However, Mr Black added it is the first time the jewellers has been targeted by ram-raiders in its history.

The front door of the shop, which only underwent refurbishment in 2016, was smashed off its hinges, with a silver Honda motorbike clearly visible lying on its site inside the store.

At least one of the motorbikes involved are presumed stolen as forensics officers could be seen removing a second set of number plates from the vehicle - also belonging to a Honda according to the DVLA.

It comes just weeks after police in Farnham appealed for sightings of “suspicious individuals” removing number plates from parked vehicles after a spike of thefts in the area.

Perhaps linked to the above, a Facebook user reported that a motorbike was fished out of Frensham Pond shortly after 11am on Friday.

Speaking to the Herald at around 8.30am on Friday, shop owner Mr Black told the Herald he was at that time unsure how much was stolen in the raid, as he had not been allowed in his shop.

However, jewellery had seemingly been removed from one of the windows adjacent to the front door, but not the other - indicating it had been left in the window display overnight.

Passers-by in Lion & Lamb Yard reported that police removed the bike from the shop shortly before 9am.

It comes almost exactly two months after Halifax bank in West Street, Farnham was devastated in the latest in a string of ram raids to hit the area. The bank remains closed after suffering extensive damage to its Grade II-listed Georgian shopfront.

The Herald believes the raid at Andre Noir is at least the 37th such ATM theft to hit west Surrey and east Hampshire since February 2017.

However, a police spokesman added the latest ram raid "is not believed to be linked with recent ATM thefts in the area".

The spokesman continued: "We urge anyone who is offered jewellery that did not have packaging or at a suspiciously low price, to contact us.

"Enquiries remain ongoing and anyone with any information should contact officers by calling 101, or use report.police.uk and quote the reference number PR/45180111619."