The thief ran off with a �700 laptop

The man was filmed as he posed as a customer at CCTV Surveillance Solutions shop on Dale Street last Saturday.

Owner David Arathoon said the thief asked to look at cameras before running from the shop with a laptop worth �700.

A spokeswoman for Greater Manchester Police said: "We will certainly be gathering evidence, including pictures and any fingerprints."

Mr Arathoon said: "I've got to see the funny side of it, even though I'm annoyed to have lost a �700 laptop.

"Frame by frame, our cameras filmed him all around the shop. The stupidity of the guy to think stealing from a CCTV shop of all places would be a good idea is quite astonishing, really.

Mr Arathoon said he could see the funny side

"When I looked back and even found one of our cameras had filmed him jumping up and looking through the window, I had to laugh.

"I knew we'd have photos of him in the street as well, because we have cameras trained on the street for security.

"It's what we do, after all, so why wouldn't we have the whole place covered with high-quality cameras?"

Police said a forensic team had called at the shop to take fingerprints on Sunday afternoon but no-one was there.

A spokeswoman added the force would certainly be sending officers to the scene as soon as possible.