BURGLARS have raided a Hampshire petrol station taking thousands of pounds of cigarettes.

The thieves were caught on CCTV as they forced their way into the New Forest store and jumped over the counter before helping themselves to stock.

The trio all wearing hoodies and one wearing a scarf to cover their face got out of a dark coloured Vauxhall Corsa style car which had pulled up on the forecourt of the Hinton Service Station, on the A35.

They used tools to force their way into the shop and stole £4700 of cigarette and tobacco products along with six bottles of whiskey before getting back in the car.

The car had come into the service station from the Dorset direction and drove off at speed on the A35 towards Lyndhurst.

Police said one of the burglars was wearing a waterproof jacket with a blue lower half and black upper half split by narrow, horizontal white stripe, a green woolly hat with a white "SKI 8" marking on the back and a white scarf across their face.

They also wore black jogging bottoms, gloves and grey trainers.

The second was wearing blue tracksuit bottoms with two white vertical stripes on each leg, grey trainers and gloves and a dark coloured waterproof jacket with a blue hood.

And the third was said to be wearing black jeans, black hoody, white trainers and gloves.

Officers would like to hear from anyone who saw the incident, on April 25 shortly after 3.45am, or has any information about the crime to contact them.

They would also like to hear from anyone who may have been offered cheap cigarettes that may have been stolen. You can call PC Arron Wood based at New Milton on 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.