THE owner of an antique shop has a message for robbers who targeted his store.

QC Antiques, at Blakemere Village, was the subject of an attempted armed robbery on Friday (August 9).

Two masked men attempted to steal silverware, causing £3,000 worth of damage to cabinets and antiques in the process.

Owner of the shop, Andy Icely, is urging those responsible to consider their actions.

He said: “I would like them to think about the lives they destroy by doing these things.

“Maybe they’ve got nothing and nowhere to go. But they don’t realise where the people they’re doing it to have come from.

“I have come from nothing.

“I come from four brothers and a father bringing me up, sharing one shredded wheat between two of us at Christmas with just sugar and butter on.

“I was getting clothes and food out of the skips as a young boy.

“You don’t let the past dictate your future. You drag yourself up.

“They need to think about what they do to people, it's not right.”

READ MORE: Armed robbers chased away after attempting to steal from antique shop

The robbers, armed with metal pipes, came running into QC Antiques at around 12.45pm on Friday (August 9).

They headed straight for a cabinet full of silverware, telling Andy ‘not to f**king move’.

With the support of Blakemere staff and customers, Andy was able to chase the pair away.

While nothing was stolen, around £3,000 worth of damage was caused.

Thankfully, Andy was able to open the store back up on Saturday (August 10).

“I was a little bit nervous,” he admitted.

“When you see a shadow near the door, you quickly turn. But I’m OK, you’ve got to carry on.

“I can't keep the shop shut, It’s my living, seven days a week. I have to be open, I have to earn money.

“It is quite a big financial hit and it’s antiques they’ve smashed up, so you can’t replace them of course.”

Andy added: “We never have it at Blakemere. I’ve been here for more than 14 years and nothing has ever happened like that before.

“The support since has been very good.

“Customers have been coming in and saying they how sorry they are and the traders and staff at Blakemere have been very good.”

A clock worth £1,800 was broken by the robbersA clock worth £1,800 was broken by the robbers (Image: Supplied)

Ginny White, owner of Blakemere Village, said this was an ‘isolated incident’.

“We’ve been open for 30 years and we have never had anything like this happen before,” she added.

Cheshire Police are asking anyone who witnessed what happened or may have any relevant footage to get in touch with them, quoting incident number IML-1890170.

DS James Elliott said: “This occurred in the middle of the day and even if people may not have witnessed the incident itself, we’re urging those who were in the area to think about whether they saw anything suspicious either before or after the incident.

“The same goes for anyone who may have captured footage which could aid our ongoing investigation.”

You can report information via cheshire.police.uk/tell-us, or call 101.