A Bradford branch of a national food chain says it urgently needs to boost security measures after it suffered from 11 break ins over a six-month period.
The Greggs drive thru on Rooley Lane was hit by numerous burglaries between March of this year and August, with the company blaming “opportunistic thieves” who smash their way into the business.
Criminals targeted the bakery businesses twice in one day on some occasions.
The repeated incidents caused damage to the store that meant doors and windows at the relatively new building have been boarded up in recent months.
The company has now applied to Bradford Council for permission to install security shutters on the property, and says it is acting on the advice of police.
The business – the first Greggs drive thru in Bradford, opened in May 2023.
It was built on the former site of the Cross Keys pub, which had stood empty since before the Covid 19 pandemic.
Based on one of the city’s busiest commuter routes, the drive thru has become a popular stop off on Rooley Lane.
The planning application submitted to Bradford Council is for security shutters to the front and side of the building, as well as at the drive thru window.
It argues the enhanced security measures are needed to prevent future waves of break ins.
The application says: “The business has been targeted by thieves on several occasions.
“West Yorkshire Police and our own in-house security team recommend the installation of security blinds to deter opportunistic thieves.”
It goes on to list the break ins that have happened in a relatively short space of time – between March and August.
In March there were break ins on the 12 and 18 March. In April there were two break ins on one day – 9 April, followed by burglaries on 11 and 27.
May offered some respite for the business, with no recorded break ins. But in June there was an attempted break in on 8 and another on 24 June.
There were no break ins in July, but in August there were two on 16 August and another on 23.
The application includes an image from one incident last month where an “older white male with a grey beard” was seen looking into the business through the drive thru window at 0:26am on 3 September.
A security system used by the store sent out an audio message asking him to leave the site, and the police were called shortly after.
On that occasion there was no break in.
Unusually for a planning application, it includes a statement from a local police officer, who says they had been called to a recent break in at the business and says they would support the security shutters.
The statement, from late August, also says police would be sending plain clothes officers to patrol the area.
The application points out that the building is not listed, and is not in a conservation area – other business in Bradford have been denied permission to install roller shutters on heritage buildings in recent years.
A decision on the planning application is expected next month.
A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said one person had been charged in relation to two of the Greggs break ins, as well as a number of other commercial burglaries in the city.
They are due to be sentenced on 16 October.
The Drive-thru sits in the Bradford East Constituency, and councillors from the area were given an update on crime in the area at a recent meeting of the Bradford East Area Committee.
Members were told that while overall crime levels were down, there had been an increase in business burglaries in the first seven months of this year compared to the same time last year.
Between 1 January and 31 July 2024 there were 130 business burglaries in the constituency – a nine per cent increase compared to 2023 (119) and the highest level for four years.
