Thieves broke into the Malcolm Allan factory on Tamfourhill Industrial Estate and drove away one of the firm's new Scania lorries last month.

Gordon Allan, managing director at Malcolm Allan, could not believe what he saw when he viewed the video from the site's CCTV cameras.

He said: "It looks like they came into the plant in a white van and then broke into the older lorry which was parked in front of the new one.

''They moved it out of the way then the new lorry was driven away. On the way out they actually waved to the CCTV camera.

"When I heard about it I was shocked. It is in the middle of the summer and it wasn't too dark. We have CCTV in place, the gates were locked and had another lorry parked in front of it – it was the audacity of it all."

The local firm, which supplies beef to supermarket giants Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury's and Somerfield, has already been hurt financially by the theft.

Mr Allan said: "Our whole business depends on supplying and transporting fresh food. The food is dated and then has to be delivered to various depots on time or we simply miss our slot. Without one of the lorries it makes this far more difficult.

"That was our newest lorry as well so they knew exactly what they were doing and must have been aware it was there.

"We are still trying to sort out the insurance and have been down south trying to get a replacement, which is going to be difficult.

''At the moment it's costing us around £1000 a week to hire another lorry."

Police say enquires are continuing.