DEVASTATED bosses at a popular golf store have been left well and truly bunkered after burglars drilled through a wall and stole equipment worth nearly £30,000.

Crooks struck at Nevada Bob's Golf Shop, on Liverpool Road, St Helens and seized hundreds of clubs.

The gang are believed to have used pneumatic drilling equipment to bust open a section of a bricked wall, before raiding the store and loading the clubs onto a van.

As police appealed for witnesses to the break-in, Alan Baily, director of the store, said: "The police think they (the burglars) must have had a van and obviously it's been planned. They've probably been in and cased the place beforehand."

Among the haul were 32 sets of irons, 106 woods, 72 putters and 17 golf bags.

Alan, 52, from Rainford, added: "We're devastated. It has not helped because a lot of the manufacturers are out of stock and therefore we can't replace all our stock. We hope someone might have information that can help the police catch who did this."

Police say the several rare clubs that were stolen have security codes stamped on their shaft. They include a XR-05 titanium driver gold club and a Tour Preferred 510 limited edition. According to police the clubs are new on the market and available at only five golf stores in the north west.

The burglary took place some time between the evening of Saturday, August 2, and the early hours of Monday, August 4

l Witnesses or anyone with information can contact DC Matt Kerr at St Helens CID on 0151 777 6065 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.