Jewellery worth some €100,000  was stolen on Thursday-Friday night in an elaborate burglary from a jewellery shop in Qormi.

Informed sources said the burglars had 'emptied' J Caruana Jewellery. They are believed to have first forced their way into an empty nearby house, gone up to the roof and then down to a pharmacy adjoining the jewellery.

They removed bricks from the common wall and used welding equipment to cut a 1-metre hole through a steel sheet almost 1cm thick which also separated the two shops.

They then proceeded to take several kilos of gold items including watches, bracelets and necklaces.

The operation is believed to have taken some hours.

The way the burglary was carried out was similar to another in Mosta a few weeks ago, when a considerable amount of jewellery was also stolen.