Lombard Big Discount Plus Essentials on Lombard Street, Newark, vandalised by teenagers
An award-winning restaurant owner has said that he fears for the safety of his staff and business after his store’s window was broken in broad daylight.
George Chummar, the owner of Koinonia and Lombard Big Discount Pound Plus Essentials, both in Newark.
On September 29, around 6.30pm, the discount store’s CCTV camera captured a youngster on a bicycle kicking the shop window with his foot and breaking it.
The footage, which has been shared with Nottinghamshire Police, captured three teenagers on bicycles and one on foot, who fled the scene straight after the incident.
“It is too strange and very scary because we are in the town centre and this kind of thing has happened many times,” Mr Chummar said.
“We have asked for the council to support us and asked for shutters, and two times they have rejected it.
“All of this has cost me £1,200 plus VAT for the glass, but another thing is the staff safety, which is more important to me.”
George has been open the discount shop for five years and the restaurant next to it for 13 years.
The owner said that there have been times when they were threatened by teenagers, things have been stolen and windows have been smashed.
He said that he has sent photographs and videos of previous incidents to planning offices and the council; however, they rejected his application for shutters due to the visual impact it would cause in the conservation area, despite ongoing concerns about vandalism.
George has previously applied for security shutters for the restaurant windows, but the application was not supported by Newark Town Council due to the “negative aesthetic impact” the shutters would have on a building situated within the Newark conservation area.
He added: “They keep refusing the shutters when they could help prevent this kind of anxiety in the town centre.
“Shutters would mean more safety and security.
“Some staff are not willing to work in the evening, so how am I meant to operate the restaurant, the convenience store and an off-licence?
“It is too strange.”
Sergeant Rishi Thobhani, of the Newark neighbourhood policing team, said: “A lot of work goes on in Newark to tackle antisocial behaviour and street-level crime – both of which are current policing priority areas for our team.
“ASB in particular is an issue that Newark residents have told us for some time now that they want us to target and focus our resources on.
“There has been a heightened police presence in Newark town centre and Hawtonville over recent months as part of the Hot Spot Patrol Fund and the Safer Towns for Summer initiative.
“We have also been conducting our usual regular visible patrols to deter offending, while working with the council to use all options available to tackle ASB and crime.
“All this work has contributed to ASB dropping by 16 per cent in Newark, compared to this time last year, but we are aware this is an ongoing challenge, which is why these priority areas have been retained.”
Newark Town Council has been approached for a comment.