A masked burglar stole vintage watches worth more than £200,000 from an antiques shop in a Mission Impossible-style raid by crawling along the floor to avoid setting off the infrared beams . The thief scaled a two-storey antique market before breaking into a rooftop vent and squeezing down a narrow shaft to reach the store . He picked three sets of locks and crawled on the floor ‘ like a snake ’ to avoid triggering infrared security beams . 'Like a snake ' : This CCTV footage shows how a masked thief avoided infrared beams during a raid on a jewellers in Hampstead , north London , by crawling around the shop in a 'Mission Impossible'-style heist . Mission Impossible : The burglar , who crawled around the shop on his front , spent just eight minutes in the luxury shop before fleeing with more than £200,000 worth of stock . Wearing a dark hooded jacket , jeans and Nike trainers , the burglar stole 124 rare timepieces before climbing back up the shaft and escaping in a waiting 4x4 . The eight-minute raid , which has been likened to a Mission Impossible film , took place at the Vintage Watch Store in Hampstead , North London , on Saturday at about 9pm . Although the thief was able to bypass alarms and evade several CCTV cameras , he was captured on a camera hidden in the ceiling overlooking display cabinets . Crawling : The man and an accomplice returned the following night to try a similar break-in but were disturbed and fled . The man and an accomplice returned the next evening , but fled empty-handed after neighbours heard them trying to smash through the reinforced vent and alerted police . They left behind ladders , a screwdriver and a balaclava , which are being analysed by police for DNA evidence . The daring raid happened a week after the Hatton Garden heist where gems worth up to £60million were stolen by a professional gang who climbed down a lift shaft to reach the vault . Antique : The thief stole 124 antique watches worth more than £200,000 in the heist on Sunday night . Gold : Among the watches taken a 18-carat gold 1910 Swedish Royal Presentation Wedding Pocket Watch worth more than £12,000 . Another 18-carat gold Fusee Verge , which has an estimated value of £9,000 , was also taken in the raid . Simon Drachman , who owns the Hampstead jewellers , said the raid on his shop was also carried out by someone who knew what they were doing . The 53-year-old said : ‘ It was very much a Mission Impossible thing . He was extremely fit and managed to squeeze through a vent that is two feet high and wide . He cleaned up the counters and made sure everything was clear. ’ He added : ‘ These are rare watches and unique . They are not easy to find and he knew exactly what he wanted. ’ The crime took place at shortly before 11pm on Sunday , April 12 at the Vintage Watch Shop owned by Simon Drachman . The business is a two-storey antiques market on Heath Street , which the thief accessed via a rooftop vent . Among the haul was an 18 carat gold Goliath 8-Day Swedish royal presentation wedding pocket watch made in 1910 worth £12,500 ; an 18 carat gold Fusee Verge watch by Thomas Earnshaw of London worth £9,000 ; and a gold Fusee Liverpool Massey 4 pocket watch made in 1824 , worth £8,000 . But Mr Drachman added : ‘ These watches can not go on the market for quite some time because there are only four or five key dealers , who all know each other . ’
Thief stole 124 watches from Vintage Watch Shop in Hampstead , London . He scaled two-storey building before slipping through a 4sq ft roof vent . Then squeezed down narrow chute and snaked along floor to avoid beam . Owner Simon Drachman compared Saturday night heist to Tom Cruise film .