Thieves hit four Edinburgh florists on Valentine’s Day eve - but ignored expensive flowers

Two raiders and a getaway driver tried to smash their way through shopfront doors but failed to get into two of the businesses.

The clueless gang were chased away from the Narcissus store on Broughton Street after disturbing drinkers at a nearby pub.

Owner of West End’s Rogue Flowers Alice Shaw, 38, said: “I don’t think they were the brightest bunch to be honest – on paper it must’ve looked a genius idea.

“If they’d taken the roses they could’ve sold them on the street corner because there’s no shortage of men looking to buy roses on Valentine’s Day.”

The gang ripped out the shop’s till and fled into the street – unaware it contained less than £100 to be used as a float.

Staff at the William Street business toiled on Valentine’s Day to clean up after the raiders, while Ms Shaw has to claim for a new till and front door on her insurance.

“The main thing for us is that they didn’t touch our orders for the next day because we had thousands of pounds’ worth of roses all made up.

“If they’d taken them it would have been an absolute nightmare and had a detrimental effect because we’d have had to refund people.”

The gang also smashed their way into Fleurs de Fleur in Haymarket Terrace at around 1am – showering orders with shards of shattered glass.

“They must’ve used an axe or a hammer on our full glass door and they were in and out in one and a half minutes,” said owner Amanda Ramsay, 45.

The pair, caught on the nearby Scotmid’s CCTV cameras, stole the £440 float from the till and a Samsung tablet used for card payments.

“We had thousands of pounds’ worth of damage because the orders were right behind the door,” said Ms Ramsay.

“It was stupid putting them by the door. If I’d moved them back a bit, they would’ve been fine but I’ll learn from it.”

Raiders tried to hack down the front door of Narcissus on Broughton Street only to be chased away by drinkers at the Barony bar next door.

The gang, believed to be two men and a getaway driver, also tried to smash their way through the door of the Harvest Garden Chocolatier and Florist in Morningside Road.

But the three fled empty-handed, possibly in a red Audi, after failing to get through the shop’s secure front door at around 1.45am.

Police confirmed officers are linking the break-ins and appealed for any witnesses to come forward.

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Police in Edinburgh are investigating after three florists across the city were broken into overnight between Thursday 14th and Friday 15th February.

“Inquiries are ongoing to identify the culprits and establish whether the same individuals are responsible for each break-in.

“Anyone with information is asked to come forward.”