THE owners of a Christmas shop have to quickly restock before the festive season after £40,000 worth of decorations were stolen in a raid.

Pinewood Christmas Tree Plantation on Rectory Lane, Hartlebury, was broken into by thieves last week.

Owner Matthew Palmer said he was "shocked" to see that two-thirds of the stock was stolen, which has a retail value of up to £40,000.

Decorations including baubles, fairies, stars and other ornaments were burgled during the raid.

Mr Palmer said the business will now find it a struggle to restock their shop before they open for the festive season next month. They usually purchase all of their stock in February.

He said he felt anger and frustration after the raid.

"We are going to be trying our best to restock", he said.

"We'll be selling trees whatever. It's just on whether we can find the stock that's right for our customers and quantities we can get at the moment".

He thanked local businesses and the community for their well wishes following the incident, which happened on the evening of Tuesday, October 10.

Mr Palmer is now working to get the shop open "in its full glory" for November 18, when Christmas trees will also be on sale.

Reacting to the robbery on Facebook, Sandy Newman said: "Sorry to hear about this, it's disgraceful what people do. I hope you can open soon."

Sarah Cound said: "So sorry to hear this, we'll be back again this December for our family Christmas tree".

Jean Gibbs said: "So sorry to hear your news. Hoping everything gets back to normal asap.

Welford Christmas Tree Farm added: "So sorry to hear this guys, what a nightmare for you".