$11k of cigarettes stolen

BURGLARY: Three Arrows Dairy in Prebbleton is the latest to have cigarette stolen in a spate of burglaries.

Cigarettes worth $11,000 have been stolen from a dairy by brazen thieves.

The cigarettes were taken from the Three Arrows Dairy in the Christchurch suburb of Prebbleton overnight on Sunday.

It comes after a spate of burglaries of dairies and service stations in Canterbury, thought to be motivated by increasing cigarette prices and an emerging black market.

Lincoln Coffee Culture was also struck overnight on Sunday, with $500 in cash taken.

Both burglaries took place while the businesses were closed and CCTV footage from Coffee Culture had been provided to police.

The offender or offenders had broken in through a back door at Three Arrows and through a front door at Coffee Culture.

Sergeant Alex Pickover Pickover said businesses were advised to not leave money in the till overnight and to consider improving their security measures.