Sweet-toothed raiders who broke into a Fakenham confectionery shop have cost the business £3,500 in ruined stock and damage.

The owners of Sweets n' Things arrived at their Oak Street store on Saturday morning to find empty jars and boxes strewn all over the floor, with chocolate bars, fizzy drinks and Easter eggs stolen.

Police later recovered four large recycling bags filled with sugary treats, which had been dumped near the town's Millennium Park.

Lisa Mallett, who owns the firm with her husband Glen, said the items stolen also included unwrapped sweets from some of the jars lining the shelves of the traditional shop.

And because she cannot say for certain how many of the 120 jars had been tampered with, she must dispose of all of them, costing about £2,000.

The damage from the break-in, loss of earnings and the added damage to a laptop during the theft have pushed the likely cost of the burglary to £3,500.

Mrs Mallett said: 'I have no idea who would do something like this. It is daft, just daft.

'They've taken all the drinks from the fridge and all my chocolate. They have had their hands in my jars as well, so I cannot put them back on the shelves because I cannot be sure what has been touched and what has not been. We always use a scoop and, from a hygiene point of view, we never handle our sweets.

'Initially I thought it was kids. But they have double-bagged everything and carried it up two flights of stairs and got it through a window. So it has got to be at least two people.

'They were carrying four see-through sacks full of sweets through the town, so you would have thought someone must have seen it and thought: 'What the hell are they doing?''

Mrs Mallet hopes the shop's insurers will cover the cost of the sweets, and she hopes to be able to donate the recovered wrapped chocolate bars to the town's foodbank.

A Norfolk police spokesman said: 'The offenders have forced entry through a rear window – there was no money, they've just stolen confectionery.

'We have attended and our crime scenes investigators have done their work, and enquiries are continuing. We do not have the value of the stolen goods, but I wouldn't have thought it was a high-value target.'

Anyone who saw the thieves or has any information should contact police on 101.