CALLOUS raiders have smashed their way into Royal British Legion offices in Ipswich - but escaped empty handed.Officials from the RBL suspect the raiders could have been burglars who thought they were about to be disturbed because nothing was taken.

CALLOUS raiders have smashed their way into Royal British Legion offices in Ipswich - but escaped empty handed.

Officials from the RBL suspect the raiders could have been burglars who thought they were about to be disturbed because nothing was taken.

A door was badly damaged, and they also caused considerable damage inside the offices on the corner of St Margaret's Plain and Cobbold Street.

Peter Thompson from the RBL discovered the damage after he returned to the office following a lunchtime meeting on Tuesday.

He said: “They had made a terrible mess, but nothing was actually taken. They didn't try to get into the safe - not that it has much in it.

“It may have been that they were disturbed, or thought they were being disturbed. Whatever happened it shows that they were pretty despicable to target the Royal British Legion.”

Mr Thompson said there was also evidence that the raiders had left excrement just outside the offices.

Other members of the Legion had also been shocked by the raid. Mr Thompson said: “One of our members, a D-Day veteran, asked me: 'What did we go through the war for?' He was very upset about this.

“If people don't have any respect for the Royal British Legion, what on earth has the world come to?”

Police went to the offices and have taken forensic evidence - although no one has yet been arrested in connection with the raid on the offices.