Thousand of pounds worth of cigarettes have been stolen from a petrol station in Blindley Heath.

Alarms were triggered just before 1 o’clock Wednesday morning at the Texaco petrol station on A22.

Offenders forced their way in through the front of the store.

A number of enquiries are being carried out and anyone who can assist further is asked to contact Surrey Police on 101 quoting reference 45140101908. Information can be given anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

A woman in her 70s has been a victim of a distraction theft in Dorking.

She visited Barclays Bank on the High Street on Wednesday and withdrew £1000.  The victim walked back to her car with a friend and noticed a strong smell and a yellow substance marking the back of her jacket.

Shortly afterwards two women appeared in what police believe was a distraction technique.  When the elderly victim returned home she noticed her money was missing.

Both suspects are described as asian; one was in her early 50s, around 5ft 1ins tall of stocky build, wearing glasses, a black hat with a fur trim and dark clothing.  The second was around 30 years old, around 5ft 3ins tall and of slender build.

If you can assist with the investigation in anyway, please contact Surrey Police on 101 quoting reference 45140102501. Information can be passed to the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Tools worth several thousand pounds have been stolen from a barn in Oxted.

They were taken in a robbery on Wednesday 26th November.

The tools, mainly Mikita models, were marked with ‘R Hayward’, and are vital to the victim’s business.

Surrey Police are asking for anyone who’s been offered these items for sale or have any information to contact them on 101.

The Chancellor, George Osborne announced on Wednesday in his autumn statement that he is awarding £1.5 million to the Kent, Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance.

Additionally, Mr Osborne is planning to exempt the charity from VAT.

Crawley MP Henry Smith commented on how delighted he was that the Chancellor has acted in the interest of this important local charity.

The Kent, Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance became the first in the country to operate a 24 hours Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) last September.

It celebrates it’s 25th anniversary next year

A tree of a different kind is featuring outside Crawley Library to celebrate Christmas this year – and West Sussex County Council have asked local school kids to design the star that will sit at the top of it.

The tree’s made from 600 plastic bottles and it’s been built by a team of artists to raise awareness of plastic waste.

It’s been made to support Pledge 4 Plastics – a campaign that aims to encourage households to recycle one additional plastic bottle each week.

All primary schools in Sussex have been invited to design the star which will crown the tree.

The official switch on will take place on next Wednesday (10 December 2014) from 5.30pm, with the winning school in attendance.