Burglars destroy dairy’s milk vending machine at Great Dalby

The raiders did not get away with any money as no cash is kept there overnight but they did destroy the milk vending machine at Vine Farm Dairy.

Charlotte Winn, who helps run the family business, was left distraught when she discovered the break-in this morning.

She told the Melton Times: “It is very upsetting and frustrating to see the damage they’ve caused.

“They’ve smashed through the front door and the bottle vending machine is completely smashed up.

“They were clearly looking for money as they broke into both machines with force and broke the egg honesty box but fortunately we don’t keep cash in there overnight.

“We are still looking at thousands of pounds worth of damage and we don’t know at the moment when we can reopen the milk vending service.”

The dairy was started at Vine Farm in the 1950s with two cows, who were milked by hand in the yard of the original farmhouse.

There is now a herd of more than 350 cows and the farm supplies milk to Long Clawson Dairy to make cheese.

The milk vending business began two years ago and customers come from far afield as well as from the Melton area to buy their milk direct from the dairy, using glass reusable bottles or their own containers.

They had expected to do good business over the next month with restrictions on shopping and travelling during lockdown.

Charlotte added: “It’s been a really busy week and this is very bad timing for us.”

Suspects were caught breaking into the milk shed on the dairy’s CCTV system at 11.20pm and police are reviewing the footage.

If you have information about the incident, call police on 101 or anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.