LIDL has coolly responded after one of its stores in Dublin was allegedly ransacked by looters who cleared the shelves and ripped the roof off with a digger.

The supermarket appeared to make light of the alleged raid at the Fortunestown Lane branch during the blizzard on Friday night.

Nine men, aged between 24 and 47, were charged with theft, burglary and trespassing offences after the store in the west of the city sustained substantial damage, police said.

Returning to the office on Monday morning, it appeared to be business as usual as social media gurus at Lidl HQ joked on Twitter: "So err… anyone do anything nice over the weekend?"

Asked what they got up to by one follower, the Lidl spokesperson said: "Kicked back, watched a bit of TV – pretty quiet tbh."

They also responded with applause for one user who joked: "Got together with a group of people from the community, got our hands on a mini digger and some shovels, and … dug out a SCHOOL. #betteruseforadigger".

Lidl also updated followers to inform them that 30 members staff had been deployed to various stores and thanked customers for their support.

They said: "We held a meeting today with everyone and have redeployed them to other stores, we won’t let the criminal actions of others impact on our hard working team.

"The store manager Ruth and her team would like to thank everyone for their kind words in the aftermath of this incident.

"The team are genuinely blown away by the swell of support from, not just the community that they serve daily, but from right around the country."

Unverified footage uploaded on social media on Friday appeared to show the Lidl store being attacked with a digger before the alleged looters entered.

Following the raid on the Lidl store, which almost flattened the building, locals on Saturday were forced to drag their shopping baskets in the snow, a mile to the next outlet to stock up.

As well as the looting of the two supermarkets, the shells of several burnt-out cars were found abandoned in the snow following a night of vandalism.

Irish Police said in a statement: "Following reports of burglary and theft of vehicles, Garda units deployed in the Tallaght District and nine arrests were made to date.

"Substantial damage was caused to a supermarket on Fortunestown lane and further damage to another premises in Jobstown."

Police urged anyone with information to come forward.

A member of Ireland's ruling Fine Gael party, parliamentarian Colm Brophy, said: "I utterly condemn this mindless criminal behaviour that has been carried out in recent hours.

"I fully anticipate that the gardai will pursue the perpetrators to the fullest extent of the law."

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He added: "I am particularly mindful that these actions have taken place in the midst of a code red weather warning when our emergency services are at full stretch.

"Lidl is a much valued and appreciated employer in our community whose head office is on the Main Road in Tallaght.

"The type of outrageous behaviour we witnessed tonight has no place in our community."

The drama came as thousands found themselves stranded miles from home as transport networks ground to a sudden halt during the ice storms – which left 16 people dead.

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