A pair have been branded the ‘stupidest burglars’ after they broke into an escape room apparently thinking it was a real bank.

They got into the Lucardo Escape Rooms in the early hours of yesterday, smashing through three doors before stealing cash and causing extensive damage.

Director Ian Pownall said: ‘They were opening every drawer in there looking for cash. They couldn’t get through the locks so they had a drill and were unscrewing panels off their hinges.

Two men were seen going into the Lucardo Escape Rooms causing damage and stealing cash (Picture: MEN)

They ransacked the place causing around £1,000 in damage to the building (Picture: MEN)

‘It’s as if they thought it was a real bank. But obviously there was inside them just puzzles.


‘Maybe they hadn’t been in an escape room before or didn’t know what it was, but they looked completely bemused. There’s certainly an irony to it.’



Escape Rooms involve participants using their wits to solve a series of puzzles to get a code to get out of a themed room.

They raided the premises in Manchester city centre but were caught on more than 50 different CCTV cameras.

At one point they took a can of coke but left it part-drunk so police hope to be able to get their DNA.

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They also took some cash in the raid and the business couldn’t open yesterday (Picture: MEN)

They broke through three doors trying to get into the escape rooms (Picture: MEN)

One of them wore a Guy Fawkes mask which he removed part-way through the burglary.

The raid is believed to have cost the company £2,000 in damage, lost revenue and stolen cash.

Ian said: ‘Locking things up is our profession so we’re pretty good at it, and we thought we were pretty secure. But they’ve gone to extraordinary lengths to get in. They’ve got through three big doors.

‘Obviously we’re gutted and really angry about it. It’s not really about the cash or even the damage, it’s the effect on business.

‘We’ve had to cancel bookings today and will now have to beef up security even more.

Police hope to get their DNA from a can of coke one of them drank and left behind (Picture: MEN)

Lucardo Escape Room in central Manchester poses a series of challenges for people to get out (Picture: MEN)

‘We’re not a big corporation, we’re a small, family owned business so even a couple of thousand pounds will have an effect on us, particularly before Christmas.

‘We rely on this business to pay our mortgage and our bills.

‘It’s just so stupid what they’ve done and the way they’ve gone about it. We just want them caught as soon as possible,’

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