An Oldham business that was targeted for its CCTV cameras has released footage of the man stealing the surveillance, during which he falls off a ladder several times.

The MOT garage on Suthers Street is owned and run by David Jones.

Mr Jones said he was shocked when he came into work on the morning of November 28 to discover all of his state-of-the-art surveillance cameras missing.

He said: "It was only when I started to look through the footage that I saw someone had been up to no good.

"I was gobsmacked - I've never heard of someone pinching CCTV cameras before.

"You just don't think anyone would do that.

"I've seen it all now."

The Roytoner said the thief took five of his cameras at around 11pm the night before - but it wasn't without difficulty for the offender as the footage shows him falling off the ladder "several times" to the point of injuring himself and even leaving behind traces of blood.

The surveillance, caught on the very cameras the thief stole, shows him walking around the building with a ladder and a sharp object to cut down each camera.

At one point, a car drives past and he walks briskly away from the ladder - only to break out into a run to return to finish the job once the coast was clear.

Mr Jones believes the ladder had also been taken from some nearby flats but said it was odd that the man seemed to beeline for his business' cameras.

The business owner said: "It's just so strange because you can see on the footage that he's come directly and intentionally to pinch them.

"It's such a strange thing to do."

He also said the cameras themselves are now "useless" with the thief cutting the wrong part of the wiring on the camera, essentially breaking them.

Mr Jones added: "He can't do anything with them now.

"At first I thought, has he done it to target me and to break in? But no, he's just come to steal the cameras."

The following day, new cameras were erected to the side of the building - at an expense to Mr Jones who has now also forked out for cages around the cameras and for additional security measures.

Despite finding the funny side to the incident watching the man fail to successfully climb the ladders, Mr Jones said he is still "on edge", especially after being targeted five years ago by another offender who "ramraided" a car into his garage door, causing £5,000 worth of damage, to steal his hot jetwash.

Mr Jones added: "My alarm system is top-notch, but you're always worrying that when you relax, something else might happen.

"You try to do everything you can and you can tell by the footage that I had a good camera system, so it just makes you think, what more can I do?

"Aside from sleep here, what more can you do to try and make it safe?

"You're always waiting for that one call on your phone that your alarm is going off.

"It's not good.

"But you've just got to keep running your business and keep trying to do your best."

Greater Manchester Police has been approached for comment on the incident.