An Aberdeen salon that was broken into earlier this week has thanked the “good samaritan” who found stolen equipment and reported it to the police.
Harris & Fox, which is located on Rosemount Street, was forced to close on Tuesday after it was raided the previous night – with the perpetrator appearing to barge their way in through a fire escape.
The hair studio posted on Facebook, urging people to report to them if they heard of styling equipment, pallettes or other make-up products being sold illegally.
Police estimated that the goods taken from the salon have a low four-figure value.
A welcome visitor
However, there was some good news later on Tuesday, when local resident Grant Gallow appeared at the salon’s doors saying he had discovered a number of the items listed in the Facebook post – hidden underneath a blanket on his stairwell.
Mr Gallow, 48, said: “When I pulled the quilt away, I noticed there was a set of keys which I put in the rubbish bin by mistake.
“I touched a few things just to see what it was, and it was just like, lots of foundation, hair straighteners, a hairdryer, a lot of paperwork, the metal cash tin which was broken, and I think a mobile phone was stolen because there was a mobile case but there wasn’t a phone in it.”
Harris and Fox owner left ‘demoralised’ following salon break-in
He added: “I knew straight away when I saw the heaps of documents with Harris & Fox on it.”
Mr Gallow contacted the police before visiting the hair studio, which is located around the corner from his Stevenson Street flat, and telling them what he had found.
Salon’s ‘heartfelt appreciation’
A Police Scotland spokesman said: “We received a report of a break-in at a business on Rosemount Viaduct in Aberdeen which happened between 5pm on Monday November 22 and the morning of Tuesday November 23.
“A quantity of items were stolen, with an estimated low four-figure total value.
“A number of the stolen items were later recovered in the nearby Stevenson Street area.”
Harris & Fox posted another status on Facebook this afternoon, sending “heartfelt appreciation” to those who supported the business since the break-in.
The post continued: “Thanks to your support and sharing of our story, we are delighted to say that some of our stolen goods have been recovered thanks to an honest citizen that reported the find!
“This has still been a devastating blow to the salon and the team, but we are once again open for business as usual and will bounce back stronger than ever from [this] setback.”
Owner Ryan Harris said: “It’s good samaritans like that that help – somebody could have found it and not even known what it was, so we’re grateful to the paper as well for sharing the post.”
He said he was not sure how much of the equipment had been recovered, as police were still in possession of it.
Inquiries into the break-in remain ongoing.