THE co-owner of a popular Halstead games and toys shop says they have lost an eye-watering £60,000 worth of stock after being raided.

Jonathan Farenden, 39, is one of the founders of Retroformers, located at The Centre, off Halstead High Street.

He says a revised stocktake revealed the business has lost £63,862.50 of stock after it was broken into

On March 19, a masked crook smashed the shop’s bottom front door panel at 2.30am and stole numerous products from the shop, followed by a second break-in two weeks later on March 30.

After the revised stocktake and additional time reviewing CCTV footage with the police, far more has been taken than originally thought.

Halstead Gazette: Shop - the inside of RetroformersShop - the inside of Retroformers (Image: Retroformers)

The bulk of the cost comes from several boxes containing thousands of Pokémon cards being stolen, resulting in the £58,500 of the total figure.

Between 32 to 34 trainer boxers of Pokémon cards were stolen and each box holds around 600 cards.

There were also two boxes of vintage Pokémon cards, with some worth £100 each.

The rest of the eye-watering total figure came from Warhammer products, DVDs, games, an Xbox 360, Lego and more that were also stolen during the two break-ins.

Halstead Gazette: CCTV - an image of the thief during the second incidentCCTV - an image of the thief during the second incident (Image: Retroformers)

Halstead Gazette: Vile - another CCTV image of the crook at RetroformersVile - another CCTV image of the crook at Retroformers (Image: Retroformers)

On March 30, Jonathan received a message from a Colchester business saying a suspicious man had tried to sell them Lego.

He said that after the man’s details were taken, the shop owner informed the police, who then raided a house.

A man was arrested and taken into custody.

Halstead Gazette: Staying strong - Retroformers Co-Founder Jonathan Farenden Staying strong - Retroformers Co-Founder Jonathan Farenden (Image: Retroformers)

Halstead Gazette: Business - Retroformers in HalsteadBusiness - Retroformers in Halstead (Image: Retroformers)

Retroformers has fitted a new alarm system since the incidents. 

Jonathan said: “It was scary when we added up to such a high figure.

“We’re picking ourselves up and carrying on, there is nothing else we can do, we must keep going forward, keep trading, and repairing things.

An Essex Police spokesman said: "A 25-year-old man from Colchester has been arrested in connection with this investigation on suspicion of two counts of burglary other than dwelling and one count of handling stolen goods.

"He has since been released on bail whilst enquiries continue."