BURGLARS who stole £1,600 worth of scratchcards from a town centre store went on a cash-in spree to claim hundreds of pounds in 'winnings'.

The group smashed their way in through a door of WH Smith in Victoria Square in Bolton at 11.50pm on January 28.

It is not clear if they stole the £1, £2, £3 or £5 variety of National Lottery scratchcards but they fled with several rolls of game cards.

Inspector Dave Henthorne, of Bolton South and Central Integrated Neighbourhood Policing Team (INPT), said: "Three offenders kicked through the glass window at the front of the store and gained entry.

"They entered the store and ripped the lottery dispenser from display and stole a four-figure value of cards. and caused significant damage to the store.

"The suspects travelled to Blackpool immediately afterwards and started to systematically cash in the winning cards at numerous shops, netting hundreds of pounds in winnings.

"My team have worked closely with Camelot as part of the investigation and on Monday morning officers from the INPT travelled to Blackpool to carry out enquiries into this theft."

One 17-year-old has already admitted his role in the smash-and-grab.

The juvenile, who cannot be named for legal reasons, admitted burglary at Bolton Youth Court on Wednesday.

His case was transferred to be heard at St Helens Youth Court the following day, where magistrates ordered pre-sentence reports to be written.

The 17-year-old will be sentenced for the offence on February 18 along with a second offence — a burglary in Leigh committed on June 8 least year that the youth admitted at Sefton Youth Court on December 31 last year.

Inspector Henthorne said of the WH Smith break-in investigation: "This is part of a wider policing operation that we have running in Bolton town centre.

"It was recognised that a small team of burglars were impacting on the businesses — shops, pubs and cafes.

"This has cost businesses and disruption to the public has been significant - all for their personal financial gain.

"My staff worked nights in plain clothes and have viewed hours of CCTV evidence to ensure that we put these people before the courts."

In a series of police raids carried out on Friday morning one 16-year-old was arrested in Bolton on suspicion of burglary and another boy, also aged 16, was arrested in Blackpool on suspicion of handling stolen goods.

A Camelot spokesman said: "Once a retailer has reported an incident to us, we are able to identify the scratchcards in question and these can then be marked as ‘stolen’ in our system.

"Therefore, it wouldn't be possible for someone to claim a prize with one of these games.

“We work very closely with our retail partners — and would urge all of them to report any missing stock to us as a matter of urgency.

"We also encourage all of our retailers to have the relevant security measures in place to protect their own stock.”