UPDATE: Anti-social behaviour 'a huge beast to battle' says Newark Police chief.
The owner of one of Newark’s most well-known shops has said that continued vandalism could put him out of business.
Mr Tom Blakemore, who owns GH Porter Provisions on the corner of Newark Market Place and Bridge Street, is facing a bill of thousands of pounds to replace the store’s main window, which was smashed overnight on Monday.
Staff arrived on Tuesday morning to find police were already aware of the incident, as they had put a note through the door.
Tom said he found a piece of a beer glass inside the shop, so he guessed that had been used to break the window.
A large side window was also badly cracked and may need replacing. Nothing was stolen.
“It was just malicious vandalism,” Tom said.
“The window won’t be easy to replace because it’s not a standard piece of glass. This is a listed building and the mouldings around the window are old.”
Tom said the damage was covered by his insurance, but he would still have to pay the excess and VAT. He has yet to decide whether to replace the cracked window as well.
He also had to close the shop for two days for repairs to be carried out.
“The bill could run into thousands. To be honest, this could bankrupt me,” he said.
He said the vandalism was the latest in a series of incidents to blight the shop and the Market Place in general.
A window was badly cracked last year in the coffee shop next to Porters, which Tom also owns. It happened in front of a police officer.
“It took 11 months to get anything done,” Tom said. He was told the window would be paid for through the restorative justice scheme, but the full amount has not yet been paid and the window remains cracked.
The nearest CCTV camera is on the other side of the Market Place, and Tom said it did not always cover Porters.
Newark’s police chief, Inspector Heather Sutton, said a member of the public called 999 soon after midnight to report the breakage, and officers were there within ten minutes.
“I am happy that a member of the public called because it shows they have confidence in the police,” she said.
Police checked the property for signs of burglary, arranged for CCTV to be trained on the broken window for the rest of the night, and contacted a company to board it up.
“Tom was given a crime number, and our investigations will continue,” Inspector Sutton said.
She said she said she appreciated the frustration of business owners who worked hard only to see their premises attacked, but that police would continue to tackle the problem.
“We have quite a robust approach to policing in Newark town centre,” she said. “We have had issues with a number of mindless incidents like this. I suspect this was done by somebody drunk walking home. It is down to a lack of respect.”
“Anti-social behaviour is a huge beast to battle, but we will keep on battling.”
Ladbrokes betting shop, which is in another listed building near GH Porter, has a broken window patched up because of the potential cost of replacing the unusual curved of glass.
Customer service manager Jade Carroll said she regularly saw youths congregating in the Market Place and causing damage, including pulling on the covers of market stalls and ripping flowers out of planters.
“We are lucky to live in this town and to have what we have here. It is heartbreaking to see this,” she said.
Jade said, with three banks and two betting shops in the Market Place, she was surprised there were not more cameras.
Tom said Newark Town Council’s decision to save money by keeping the covered market stalls permanently in position in the market place was understandable, but was giving trouble-makers a haven to congregate, and they regularly caused damage in the area.
“The town seems to be hell-bent on destroying itself.”
Newark Town Council’s markets manager, Mr Ian Harrison, said: “The replacement with heavier, more robust stalls that can stay in situ, has enabled the provision of a much better trading canopy, appreciable annual cost savings and, importantly, has removed the need for several market cancellations each year because of high winds.
“The police and district and town councils have been working to provide diversionary activity for youths who gather in the town centre and additional temporary CCTV is to be soon trialled to further assist with policing in the Market Place.”
Inspector Sutton said the recently-appointed town centre beat manager was working to build bridges between the police and businesses.
She said there had also been a lot of work done in conjunction with other agencies to provide activities for the youth of the town.
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