THIEVES struck at a major York business and stole a large quantity of stock.

The York Gin Distillery, at Poppleton, was broken into over the weekend (June 25-26) and a ‘significant’ quantity of gin has been stolen.

Thankfully nobody was hurt, however, the company says York Gin orders will be delayed as a result as the distillery has to replenish the gins again.

Their website states that the dispatches of online gin orders are delayed until Wednesday, July 6.

York Gin would like to warn other spirit makers to ‘be vigilant’, as they are the second North Yorkshire distillery to suffer a break-in, as the Yorkshire Dales distillery near Richmond suffered a loss of £85,000 in March.

Emma Godiva, the director of The York Gin said: "Following the break in at the distillery, we want to thank everyone for your messages of support and concern. We really do appreciate them.

"While it’s shocking to suffer a crime like this, thankfully no-one was hurt, and while a large quantity of gin was stolen, none of our equipment was damaged.

"So, the bad news is that we may run short of gin for a very short while.

"The good news is we can get back up and running quickly - making our gins, bottling, labelling and packing them. And getting bottles of our world-beating gins out to our wonderful customers.

"While we are upset and angry, we are strong, resilient, and philosophical about what’s happened.

"We’ve already repaired the significant damage to the distillery, we have increased security - and we’re back making gin.

"York Gin makes some of the world’s best gins. A break in at our distillery doesn’t change that.

"Thank you in advance for your patience as we get ourselves back up and running, feel free to get in touch with any urgent questions."

The company are now working closely with North Yorkshire Police to try and track down the thieves responsible and those profiting from the crime.

York Gin creates handmade gins using traditional methods in their distillery, and is the only gins made in York, winning major awards at world gin competitions.

Their first shop on Pavement, York city centre, was awarded ‘Shop of the Year 2022’ in the Visit York Tourism Awards.

They opened their second shop in York station in November 2021 and is due to open The Distillery bar in the Coppergate centre.

The York Gin Garden launched on Sunday, June 26 at the Principal hotel next to the station which runs till September 2.

If you know of anyone trying to sell York Gin or have any information about this crime, please contact North Yorkshire Police by calling 101, and quote crime number NYP270620220070.