Business owner blasts thieves for stealing charity box at hair salon

Fazes Hair Studio, on Ermin Street in Stratton, was broken into, with intruders taking a charity box.

It has left staff at salon feeling vulnerable and scared to go to work, often locking themselves in when working alone.

Despite CCTV footage, Wiltshire Police has closed the investigation.

CCTV footage of the incident appears to show three masked people outside of the beauty salon attempting to get inside by breaking through the side window and taking the charity box placed on the front desk of the salon.

After setting off the alarm, the three quickly ran away with the stolen box, which was to go towards an Alzheimer’s charity.

CCTV at the business, as well as a security alarm and metal bars at the rear, did little to deter the intruders.

Tracie Heard, who runs the business, is now planning on adding additional security to help prevent this from happening again.

Tracie Heard runs Fazes Hair Studio in Stratton (Image: Newsquest)

Five women work at the salon, and because they work independently, they can sometimes be left working on their own.

Tracie said: “It is sad that the girls don’t feel safe in the salon, and they feel they have to lock themselves in.

“I feel quite vulnerable that this has happened more than once, it is just quite scary to know that there are people around that do that sort of thing and they can just come in our front door."

Tracie said she is concerned that those responsible can just walk into her business whenever they like.

The masked intruders can be seen on CCTV looking through the window before the box is stolen (Image: Tracie Heard)

She said: “How can I keep those kinds of people away because you can’t close your doors when you run a business and people you don’t know can walk in.”

Tracie reported the incident, which happened on the early hours of December 30, to the police and even took to Facebook with the CCTV footage to ask for help from the public in identifying the three people involved in the theft.

The investigation into the theft has been closed by Wiltshire Police.

All that was left the next morning was the broken chain the charity box had been attached to (Image: Newsquest)

A spokesperson said: “We have received a report of a break-in on December 30 at a salon in Ermin Street, Stratton, during which a charity box was stolen.

“Despite inquiries, we have been unable to identify a suspect and this has been closed with no further action.

“If more evidence comes to light then we will reopen the case and investigate.”

Fortunately, after making it public that the charity box had been stolen, she was able to set up a GoFundMe page and had over £200 donated.