A COUPLE have been left devastated after brazen thieves broke into their pub and got away with a substantial amount of money.

Beverley and Darren Nixon-Davies have run the Greyhound Inn on Holt Road, Wrexham, for two years.

On Wednesday night, Mrs Nixon-Davies said she was horrified to learn a thief had entered the building and stolen more than £1,300 while she was just in the next room.

She explained: “At about 9.30pm I was upstairs in our kitchen in the flat. Our office is in the adjacent room and I had been in there doing the accounts so the door was ajar.

“My dog started going ballistic, barking, so I told him to stop and I went into the bedroom to get something.

“I thought I saw a shadow pass the window, but thought it must have been a car in the car park.”

Mrs Nixon-Davies said she later looked in the office and noticed nothing out of the ordinary, so continued with her night.

She said the pub was busy and she had family members in as Wednesday had been the anniversary of her mother’s death.

It wasn’t until about midnight that she and her husband realised what had happened.

Tins containing money, which had been out while Mrs Nixon-Davies had been doing her accounts, had vanished from the office.

“Darren looked at the office window,” she explained, “and realised it was broken and he saw a footprint on the windowsill.

“Whoever had come in was obviously in there while I was in the kitchen.”

On the pub’s CCTV the couple made an even more disturbing discovery.

Mrs Davies, 50, said: “On the video you can see two people - one on the flat roof and another on the ground, passing a crowbar up. You can see the person looking through my bedroom window and pointing as I moved around the flat.

“Then you can see them passing money out.

“They took £1,300 if not slightly more - and all of my bags of change as well.

“It has financially wrecked us. We will get the money back through insurance but it will take time.

“We’re in such a place with this pub that we’re working week to week. Because of this [break-in], we haven’t been able to place a beer order for Monday.”

The incident has had far more than a financial impact on Mr and Mrs Nixon-Davies.

“I still haven’t been back in the office since,” Mrs Nixon-Davies said. “We still can’t believe it happened and we haven’t slept - it’s put the fear of God in us.

“I beat myself up for not going into the room when the dog barked, but the police said I did the right thing because they could have been armed.

“We are two strong people. We have been through a lot in our time.

“But for them to do this... They have got away and don’t realise the impact they have had, not only on our business but on our home.

“We only took it on two years ago and we have put our heart and soul into it.

“We’re trying hard to convince ourselves to stay put, or else they have won.”

The couple have been installing upgraded security measures and said they have been overwhelmed with help and support since.

Mrs Nixon-Davies added: “We’d just like to thank our family, friends, staff and customers - they have been fantastic.”

North Wales Police confirmed a break-in at the Greyhound Pub on Holt Road in Wrexham was reported at 12.22am on November 14. Anyone with information can contact police on 101 with reference number X165230.