Salon owners say they are living in fear after a spate of burglaries on the same street causing thousands of pounds in damage.

At least three salons on Union Road in Oswaldtwistle have been targeted in the last week with offenders making off with Christmas presents, gifts from customers, cash and tips, a charity box, alcohol and hundreds of pounds worth of beauty products and equipment.

Two of the victims, Nicola Johnston, who owns Originals, and Kimberley Delafield, who owns Hairspray, have criticised police and accused them of there being delays in their investigation.

However, police bosses said they are ‘taking the reports seriously’ and are ‘following several lines of enquiry’ as part of their investigation. Originals was broken into at around 3.40am on Wednesday, December 14 and around £400 was stolen.

Nicola, who has run the salon for 14 years, said: “All the business owners who have been broken into are really angry.

“We are all taking stuff home every night and it’s absolutely ridiculous.

“We are all on edge and it’s a right faff every night as we are all having to completely empty our salons of everything.

“It’s a joke. I have only spoken to the police once.

“I have had zero help from them and it’s disgusting. They have not contacted me and I’ve got so much more information.”

Kimberley Delafield, owner of the Hairspray salon in Oswaldtwistle

Burglars were caught on CCTV breaking into Hairspray from around 2am on Friday, December 16. They stole a large quantity of equipment, products and gifts. Kimberley, 33, from Clayton-le-Moors, has run the salon for over five years and said she is now ‘living on nerves’.

She said: “It’s been absolutely awful and saddening. The rest of the businesses on the road are scared. This is the most profitable time of the year for salon owners but we are all on tenterhooks as there’s no police activity.

“I rang the police straight away. It’s been logged and that’s pretty much all we know.

“It’s a really nice community that’s been devastated by a bunch of thieves.”

Mystique, on Union Road, was also targeted by burglars on Saturday, December 16, however the offenders were disturbed and fled the scene.

A 36-year-old man from Accrington has been arrested on suspicion of burglary at Originals and bailed until Thursday, January 5. No other arrests have been made.

Insp Pam Holgate, of Lancashire Police, said: “Burglaries can leave victims devastated and no one should have to suffer having their business raided by thieves.

“We have spoken with all the business owners and provided information about the progress of the investigation. We remain fully committed to finding those responsible and will do everything in our power to arrest and charge the offenders.”

Anyone with information can call police on 101.