THE owner of an internationally renowned lingerie business has been left distraught by daring thieves who stole nearly £12,000 worth of stock.

Sally Robinson, whose Ample Bosom firm caters for ladies of a fuller figure, said the burglary at her warehouse at Old Byland, on the North York Moors, had cost her about a sixth of her stock.

The thieves struck during Tuesday night, leaving Mrs Robinson to make the discovery this morning.

It was a bitter blow for the phenomenally successful mail order and Internet lingerie firm, which has served women across the globe since it was launched almost two years ago.

But Mrs Robinson vowed that it would be business as usual despite the upsetting setback.

"There is plenty left and we are carrying on with business as usual. You expect a bit of a lull around this time of the year but we had been holding up quite well. It has come as a big shock," she said.

"My husband went downstairs to feed the cats and dogs and he came back and said the strimmer had gone. Then I started thinking 'What about everything else?'"

She added: "Who wants all those bras and what good are they to anybody without any customers? We will get over it but it was my stuff and they had no right to take it."

The award-winning Ample Bosom operation was established in September 1999 after Mrs Robinson decided to give up her daily routine of cattle, sheep and pigs in an unusual farm diversification scheme.

She converted a redundant farm building into an international business which attracts orders from as far afield as Australia and New Zealand. It also hit the headlines recently when London-based Harbour Pictures announced that it would be making a feature film about the enterprise.

Updated: 17.15 Wednesday, July 18