Ram raiders strike again overnight, Mt Wellington lunch bar latest casualty

The Big Bite Lunch Bar is the latest target in a string of ram raids across Auckland in recent days. Photo / Adam Pearse

Yet another Auckland shop has been targeted by ram raiders, with thieves breaking into a lunch bar and a Post Office.

Police say they are investigating two burglaries in the Auckland City East area in the early hours of this morning, in one of which a car was driven through the front of the building.

It includes the Big Bite Lunch Bar in Mt Wellington which has been left with a section of the shop's glass front destroyed.

A police spokesperson said at 5am police were notified about an earlier incident where a vehicle had been used to force entry to a shop on Sylvia Park Rd, Mt Wellington.

This followed an earlier incident of a burglary at a Post Office on Station Rd, Penrose about 11.30pm.

The spokesperson said offenders gained entry using tools to force their way into the store.

They then fled the area in a stolen vehicle.

Police would be reviewing any available CCTV footage of the burglary as well as conducting forensic inquiries at the store, said the spokesperson.

Officers would also be following up with the business that was ram-raided to establish what items had been taken and for any available security footage.

The lunch bar's business manager, who asked not to be identified, said he was informed at 4.20am by a delivery driver that his Sylvia Park Rd store had been broken into.

It was believed a vehicle was used to ram through the store's entrance, smashing through glass and metal bars.

Fortunately, it appeared the offenders were unable to steal much, he said.

The manager believed some of the store's small cigarette stash had been taken.

When the robbers found the till was empty, it appeared they attempted to remove the machine but gave up.

Tradesmen were this morning reinstalling the metal bars behind some plywood boards which acted as a replacement for the glass broken.

He said he felt aggrieved by what had happened.

"[I'm] pissed off, very angry.

"It wasn't even worth it."

Tradesmen were this morning boarding up the Big Bite Lunch Bar in Mt Wellington after the shopfront was wrecked by ram raiders last night. Photo / Adam Pearse

Like a typical lunch bar in an industrial strip, the shop was lined with food and drink - none of which appeared to be missing.

Even items in the freezer had gone untouched.

After hearing how offenders had returned to businesses they'd targeted before, the manager hoped the incident wouldn't be repeated.

It's the third burglary in the area in just days after the nearby Sylvia Park shopping complex was hit this week.

Police are investigating after an attempt to burgle the megacomplex in Auckland's Mt Wellington early Thursday morning.

A glass door was smashed, with the would-be robbers entering the complex in an effort to steal jewellery.

However, the heist was thwarted by security measures.

The attempted robbery followed a brazen ram raid a day earlier with three cars driven through Ormiston Town Centre shopping centre.

Around 17 youths entered three stores in the Flat Bush complex about 1.10am, taking a number of electronic items and clothing.

Police are still to make arrests in relation to that incident.