A group of males caused damage to a Moate filling station and made off with a sizeable quantity of cash and cigarettes during a 4am break-in on Wednesday morning.

The incident took place at Joe Digan's Londis shop in the Topaz filling station, which is on the Athlone Road in Moate.

Sergeant Paul McNally of Moate Garda Station said a group of males forced entry to the shop at approximately 4am and stole "a sizeable quantity" of cigarettes and cash from the safe.

It's understood that the raiders damaged a door during the break-in and also let off fire extinguishers which cause damage to stock.

Sgt McNally said the Gardai were carrying out enquiries and examining CCTV footage from the locality.

Anyone who noticed any suspicious activity around the time of the incident is asked to contact Moate Gardai in confidence on 090 6481106.