Hammer raid on Anya shop

A smash-and-grab gang has struck again in the West End with a raid on Anya Hindmarch's handbag shop.

Two thieves used a sledgehammer to smash through the window of the New Bond Street store.

They drove off on a silver moped before police reached the scene taking thousands of pounds worth of handbags and leaving the hammer behind.

The raid at about 10.30pm yesterday was the latest in a series of attacks in the Bond Street area. It is the second time Hindmarch - famous for her I'm Not A Plastic Bag design - has been targeted.

In December, police raided addresses in north London and arrested members of gangs which had allegedly been carrying out up to three raids a week.

Detectives believe the latest attacks are the work of a new team, including a woman. Last Thursday, four suspects on two scooters tried to break into Jimmy Choo's flagship store but electronic security shutters were activated when the glass was broken.

Two days earlier, a woman and a male accomplice stole at least 10 handbags worth thousands of pounds each after she smashed through the glass door of Italian fashion retailer Salvatore Ferragamo. In October last year four men rammed the front doors of Hindmarch's store in Ledbury Road, Notting Hill, grabbing goods worth £20,000. Detectives believe there is a loosely linked group of up to 50 individuals who are staging the raids. Witnesses said last night's attack was carried out by two men on a moped. They were wearing light-coloured crash helmets and grey hoodies. Shops are being advised not to display items in windows overnight and to install shutters. There have been more than 60 robberies at boutiques and jewellers in Mayfair, Knightsbridge and Chelsea in the past few years, despite efforts by shop-owners to improve security.

The gangs can make tens of thousands of pounds re-selling designer items on the black market.

Anyone with information about any of the raids should call Westminster CID on 020 7321 8876 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.

Matthew Pitt, 24, of Islington, who led a gang on mopeds in 2006 who smashed their way into London shops such as Mulberry and Louis Vuitton to steal designer handbags worth tens of thousands of pounds, was jailed for 26 months yesterday.