A COMMUNITY is determined to stay strong after its centre was broken into for the second time in a matter of weeks.

Thieves smashed the front door of the Florence Park Community Centre before breaking into fruit machines and stealing up to £300 in cash last weekend.

But centre chairwoman Stella Bell said the incident had made the community stronger.

She said: “We are not going into 2016 with a negative attitude because of this.

“We are a positive community and will not let this stop us from getting excited about our lovely panto and all the other activities we run.

“There has been so much hard work going on behind the scenes to make sure everything keeps going and we haven’t had to cancel anything.

“We are a strong community that pulls together when something like this happens.”

Ms Bell added: “We will be working with the council to look at more security of the centre for the future.”

The attack happened overnight on Friday, January 8.

The break-in was discovered at about 6.30am last Saturday.

The glass front door is now boarded up as the centre waits for the city council to fix it.

Centre treasurer Viv Peto said: “We have been broken into for the second time in three weeks and I’m pretty sure it was the same people.

“They took the same route as they did the first time.

“They damaged the front door and alarms each time, but on Friday they smashed fruit machines and took, I guess, between £100 and £300.

“We didn’t have to close, unlike last time, because they didn’t smash the fire alarms.

“We’re definitely looking ahead now and focusing on things like our panto at the end of the month.”

Emily Marshall, a community singing leader, said the first break-in before Christmas forced her to cancel her weekly mother and baby music group.

She said: “It was our last class before Christmas – it just causes a lot of trouble and effort for people.

“But we have amazing people at the centre who have worked tirelessly to make sure this time everything keeps running.

“They are absolutely brilliant and really show how strong this community is.

“Although it is frustrating because it is such a faff to sort out, it will never break this strong community, and if anything only makes them stronger.”

Charlotte Redman, of Thames Valley Police, confirmed they were still investigating the break-in. Anyone with information should call police on 101.