The owner of a Griffith petrol station has warned other businesses after his servo was hit in a smash and grab

Just after 3.30 in the morning, two men in a stolen car pulled up to the Mobil service station on Oxley Street, where they got to work.

The men broke a window and entered the store before grabbing phone chargers and similar, easily pawnable hardware, along with a few bags of lollies for the road.

The two men escaped in their stolen vehicle less than two minutes later, with approximately $2000 worth of goods.

"They were in and out in two minutes, it was clearly planned," said Kieran McNabb, who owns the store and responded just minutes after they escaped.

Mr McNabb said that he had suspicions of who was responsible, and urged police to be more proactive in patrolling high-risk areas during the early hours of the morning - or at least more visible in addressing the issue.

He brought out security footage and asked why police hadn't made it available.

"I understand they can't be everywhere at once, and they can't go kicking down doors on hearsay, I get that," he said.

"But we just want police to be more open. Everyone's got dash-cams these days. There's cameras everywhere ... Word gets around. I want businesses to see and be aware of what they're doing."

READ MORE

Mr McNabb credited his own recent security improvements for minimising the cost to his business to just the goods taken and approximately $2000 to repair the window, but was quick to assure that safety of staff would always come first.

He encouraged other businesses to invest in HD security cameras as well as good-quality safes, and keep the safes visible to ensure that thieves don't smash up other parts of the store in search of things to fence.

"It's a balance. You don't want to make it too easy, keep the honest people honest. But you also don't make it too hard or they smash up your shop looking for whatever is in the back."

While he keeps cigarettes locked up in a safe currently, he has added plans to install another safe and keep electronic hardware like phone chargers and cables locked away as well.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: