It may have seemed like the perfect burglary when crooks chiselled their way through a concrete wall to steal a safe from a Romford business.

But their efforts would have been in vain once they opened the safe to find it was actually empty.

Ashley Vilka, director of Best Quote Screens Ltd, in Crow Lane, found the gaping 3ft by 3ft hole in the wall when he went to his office on Thursday morning.

He suspects the burglars must have chiselled through the five-inch wall for at least a day before they broke through and slid the safe out.

He said: “I couldn’t believe it when I came in; I opened the door and froze. I was shocked at the cheek of it.

“They would have had a surprise though when they opened it as there was no money in it.”

He added: “I locked up at 5.15pm the day before and there was no sign of it then. The safe was heavy so it would have taken three or four people to lift it, and they must have taken it in a van.”