POLICE are probing a spate of break-ins at hair and beauty salons in Port Glasgow.

Amethyst Hair and Beauty in King Street was targeted on Wednesday night into Thursday morning, and was broken into again on the following night.

On the same night as the second Amethyst incident, thieves also smashed their way into Salon Ivy on Newark Street.

The King Street business had to cancel customers' appointments on Thursday while the damage was repaired.

And there was further disruption to appointments on Friday after forensics officers returned to the scene following the Salon Ivy incident.

Christine Russell, a stylist at Amethyst, told the Tele: "They took a kitty tin and two charity boxes and vouchers.

"I don't think a lot of the people who did this. Everyone in this business has been impacted.

"I came into my work on Thursday morning to find the shop has been broken into.

"They broke a small pane of glass and we had to close the shop, only to come back on Friday and they'd broken in again, only this time causing more damage and smashing a bigger pane of glass.

"I can't believe it.  We are trying to work around it."

She said that owner Nicola Cox has owned the shop for 13 years and there has never been any trouble before.

"We are still trying to work out how much it will cost to repair the damage and in cancelled appointments," Christine continued.

"Police came out on Thursday and then forensics came out on Friday because they were out at Salon Ivy."

There have also been unconfirmed reports of an attempted break-in at Port Toon Barbers in Church Street, on the same night as the second Amethyst incident and the one at Salon Ivy.

Police confirmed they had been called to a report of a break-in at Salon Ivy at around 7.05am on Friday.

A Police Scotland Spokesman added: "Around 8am on Friday, August 30, we received a report of a break-in to premises on King Street, Port Glasgow.

"Enquiries are ongoing."

Anyone with information can pass it on to police by calling 101.