Burglars are plaguing a cafe opened in honour of Black Country comedy duo Aynuk and Ayli costing its distraught owner thousands of pounds in damage.
The Aynuk and Ayli Cafe only opened in Northfield Road, Netherton, in October but has already been burgled five times in the last four months. Cafe owner Paul Smith, son of Alan Smith otherwise known as Aynuk, said he is being left at the mercy of yobs by a lack of police patrolling the area. His hairdressers’ salon opposite the cafe has also been hit.
Thousands of pounds worth of products have been taken from the salon which has been targeted three times since Christmas.
Mr Smith said: “When we opened this cafe we thought it would be a welcome addition to the community, but it becomes difficult to run a new business when you have to constantly put up with break-ins.
“The one morning we came in to find both the cafe and the hairdressers had been broken into at the same time. The cafe has been completley trashed a few times now.
“We don’t have any money left on the premises, but they seem to break in for anything, one time they broke in just to steal all of the syrup.”
Mr Smith said he has now forked out on thousands of pounds to beef up security at his two businesses including roller shutters on every window and security systems connected to the police station.
But he said he feared burglars would continue to target the area despite his measures.
He added: “I don’t like to moan about the police because they are not the ones burgling shops but it is getting worse around here and I would like to see a higher police presence.”
Business partners Paul Smith and Carlos Pardo opened the cafe last year and named it after the comedy duo. The cafe was once the old police station.
One half of the comedy duo John Plant, also known as Ayli, died at the end of 2006. The cafe and hairdressers’ salon are the latest businesses in the region to be plagued by thieves and vandals.
Yesterday the owners of an old-fashioned sweet shop in Wolverhampton – Sweet Tooth, revealed they are selling their beloved business after vandals targeted it for the third time in a matter of weeks.
5 Comments
i bet if you caught one of these lowlifes who keeps breaking in,and gave them a good hiding the pc looney police would be there in a flash and the good law abiding taxpayer would have to pay the little scumbags compo,i would wire the cafe at night to the mains the shock might just stop them,and if that don’t work set bear traps with big teeth that will clap to there thieveing flithy legs,good luck .
Hire a guarddog and post signs that it will be there afterhours….or campout inside with a baseball bat and don’t put any signs up!!!!!
Another small business being destroyed because of the evil cretins allowed to roam freely by our pathetic police, criminal justice system and the Government.
Bring back the birch, these yobs will soon think twice if there was payment for their evilness.
we were so sad to hear that you have had so much trouble too. we are glad that you can have shutters fitted to help protect your shops it is one thing we can not do because we are informed it is a conservation area and they are not allowed. this is why we want to sell because we have got cameras and an alarm but this is obviously not enough. we have tried to chase the council to see if the area could have a dome camera to help but got no where! what else can you do but physically be ongaurd all night!! good luck in the future.
how sad this a police station only about 400 yards away from this shop makes you wonder doesnt it