A MAN fraudulently bought a boiler from a Burnley plumbing shop with a cloned or stolen French credit card and walked out with it on his shoulder.

Photos have been taken from CCTV inside North West Plumbing and Electric in Accrington Road where the man bought the £670 boiler.

Audrey Pilkington, shop manager, said the theft was ‘as plain as day’.

She said: “The man paid for the boiler by signing for it, not by using chip and pin.

“So we didn’t know he had stolen it until the charge came through from the French credit card company a month later.

“We never had anything like this because most cards are chip and pin.

“The worker who served him was only covering for somebody.

“We found it on the CCTV straight away, it was as plain as day.

“After he bought it, he carried it out to a white van on his shoulder.”

PC Trevor Syrett, of Burnley police, said: “We have reason to suspect this man has fraudulently used a credit card and may well be using this card repeatedly.

“We are concerned that other businesses may become targets and suffer as a result.

“If anybody has any information about this incident, or recognises the man in the CCTV, then I would urge them to contact police.”

The incident happened at 3pm on Wednesday, October 23, but police have only just released the details.

Anyone with information should call police on 101 and quote the reference number LC-20131205-0997.