Details became known on Tuesday 25th August 1931 of a daring burglary which occurred at the licensed premises known as the Castle Vaults, Blantyre, on the day before on the Monday afternoon.

Castle Vaults Public House is pictured on Glasgow Road at the corner of John Street, a couple of years earlier in this rarer photo.

The thieves carried out their raid with remarkable coolness, and several bottles of spirits and a quantity of cigarettes were taken away. The burglary had been committed between the hours of 2 and 3 o’clock in the afternoon when the premises were closed, but the thefts were not discovered until the shop was being shut up for the night.

While an attendant was clearing up the sitting-room, she discovered that one of the panels in the wall was loose, and investigations showed that the brickwork behind it had been completely removed. Further inspection disclosed that the aperture led to a disused coal cellar at the rear of the premises, and it was obvious that the thieves in leaving had carefully rearranged the panel to cover up their escape!

Searching other stories, I couldn’t find any evidence of the thieves being caught.