South Shields café owner feels ‘targeted and worried’ as spate of crime continues
South Shields café owner feels ‘racially targeted’ and fears that she will go out of business as crime spree continues.
The owner of Café Westoe has spoken about how she feels targeted and worried for the future of her business following another spree of crime in the Dean Road area.
Drupy Senanayake has expressed her concerns after the venue’s window was smashed overnight between Friday, April 17, and Saturday, April 18 - with Lasun and DeVine Studios also being impacted.
Speaking about the incident, Drupy revealed it is the third time that it has happened which has resulted in her feeling personally targeted and concerned about the additional costs to her business.
She said: “When you come to work on a morning and see that the windows are broken, it really sets you back emotionally but also financially as you have to clean it up and then repair the damage.
“The last two occasions I didn’t feel like I was being targeted but this time round, and I don’t know why I do, but I feel like it is racially motivated.
“To me, that is quite sad that it has come to this because I’ve been in South Shields for 33 years - I consider it to be my home.
“Each time this happens, it is costing between £800 and £1,000 to fix the windows but it takes around four months to get the money back from the insurance.
“So it means that I have to try and manage while paying out large amounts of money, I literally can’t afford to repair the window at the moment.
“Unfortunately because we are a small business, our insurance goes up each time this happens and speaking for myself, I won’t be able to afford my insurance if this happens again.”
Drupy has called on the authorities to install CCTV in the Dean Road area to help Northumbria Police catch those who are targeting the small businesses.
She added: “I want the Council to work with all the small businesses in this area to put more cameras up.
“If it wasn’t for my cafe’s camera, the police wouldn’t have any footage of what has been happening so it would be in their interests as well.
“What is really upsetting to me is that I serve a community and cafes like this have to exist for a lot of lonely people, I have some regulars who come in five times a week for a chat and a cuppa.
“Our customers are shocked and upset to see this happening and they are also concerned at why South Shields is becoming unsafe.”
‘Unsustainable’
In a post of social media, the owners of Lasun have also highlighted the financial impact that it is having on them as a business.
It states: “We really want to stress, no matter who we speak to to get justice or answers, we get nothing.
“The people who have been doing this across all of the hard working business of south shields, get away with it every time, it needs to stop.
“We're tired, we're frustrated, and we'll be honest with you: we cannot keep absorbing the cost of repairs, replacements, and damage on top of everything else it takes to keep a small, independent restaurant running.
“At some point, it becomes unsustainable.”
Sea Change, on Ocean Road, was also targeted on the same date as the Dean Road businesses - with criminals smashing windows at the South Shields venue.