ITEMS valued at around £10,000 were stolen in an early hours raid on a village petrol station.

A team of three masked men also caused damage of around £3,000 during the incident, which was captured by CCTV cameras.

The owner of he BP outlet says he plans to "beef up" security as it is the third time the business has been targeted.

Footage obtained by the County Gazette shows the raiders pull up in a black Audi with false number plates at the premises in Curry Rivel shortly after 1.30am yesterday (Sunday, January 14).

All three of the men got out of the car and while two of them jemmied open the door to the shop within a couple of minutes, the other prepared bags and boxes to carry off the booty.

Inside they stole cigarettes valued at £7,500, £1,000 worth of vapes and £1,000 worth of lottery scratchcards.

Owner James Duder said: "It's heartbreaking. It crosses your mind to give up when something like this happens, but we're determined to carry on.

"This is the third time this has happened and we will be beefing up security."

The culprits drove off in the direction of Taunton and police arrived at the scene within 14 minutes.

The raid took place almost a year to the day after a previous attack when the bungling thieves crashed their getaway car and police were able to return the stolen items to the business.

An Avon and Somerset Police spokesperson said: "We received an alarm notification at around 1.30am yesterday (Sunday 14 January) about a suspected break-in at a shop in High Street, Curry Rivel.

"Officers attended to find the building had been broken into and several items taken.

"An investigation into the incident is ongoing and anyone with any information is encouraged to contact 101 and quote reference 5224011206."