BURGLARS escaped with £7,000-worth of PlayStation games after breaking into a Selby store.

The thieves struck at Woolworths, in Gowthorpe, last night, jemmying open a rear fire exit door.

The burglar alarm went off, but it is believed the intruders knew exactly what they were looking for and were in and out in within a minute.

Police said today that about 200 games had been stolen.

A Woolworths' store in Otley was also burgled last night and branches in Shipley and Brighouse, West Yorkshire, were targeted on Monday night.

Police believe it could be the same team, targeting branches one at a time.

Ian Purple, assistant manager at Woolworths, in Selby, said today that his staff had seen some people acting suspicously in the store yesterday.

He said: "They were looking at the PlayStation games and then disappeared."

Mr Purple added: "Our burglar alarm went off at 9.35pm. The alarm system told us that they were in and out within a minute, so they obviously knew what they were looking for."

Updated: 11:57 Wednesday, June 25, 2003