Thieves steal historical items from Sunderland antiques warehouse set for major transformation

Thieves have struck at a former antiques warehouse which is in line for a major £4.5million transformation, stealing historical items among their haul.

Thousands of pounds worth of damage has been caused at the old Peter Smith Antiques building in Borough Road, Sunniside, which has been taken over by community interest company Theatre Space North East with a view to turning it into The Street.

The team has been working hard behind the scenes on the plans to turn the 16,500 sq ft site, which spans five floors, to create the new venture which will help support grassroots theatre in the city and beyond.

Expected to take three-to-five years to complete, The Street will comprise a 56-seater auditorium with its own cafe and bar, creative offices, rehearsal space, affordable digs for touring productions and space to build sets - as well as a rooftop community garden - and £100,000 of initial funding has already been secured via the  UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF).

It’s been so called after the street which runs between the buildings, which were once separate but were joined over the years.

But a recent break in has proved a set back in their transformative plans, with thieves attempting to pull pipes off the walls which were connected to the water supply leading to flooding on the first floor.

It’s just some of the damage left behind after the building was targeted overnight on Sunday, April 14.

Among the items taken were tools, metal and two distinctive antique fire extinguishers which have been part of the building for decades.

Corinne Kilvington, artistic director at Theatre Space North East, said: “We are already trying to raise a lot of money to transform the building into what we want it to be and this just adds to that.

“The fire extinguishers in particular are part of the fabric of the building and my fear is that if they can’t sell them, they will throw them away and they’ll be lost forever.”

She added: “It’s one in a number of several empty buildings in this area that have been targeted in the last week or so.

“These are all businesses and organisations coming together to make Sunniside a more welcoming, friendly and opening place - and incidents like this just ruin it for everybody.”

A Northumbria Police spokesperson said: “Shortly after 10am on Monday (April 15), police received a report of a burglary at a premises on Borough Road in Sunderland.

“It was reported that a number of tools and metal items had been stolen from the address sometime between 7pm on April 14 and 9:30am on April 15.

“Enquiries are ongoing. Anyone with information should contact police using the ‘Report’ pages of our website, or by calling 101, quoting crime reference number 043049X/24.”