Community spirit triumphs after smash-and-grab at village shop
DEFIANT villagers helped the owner of a ransacked shop re- open just a day after it had been ram-raided. Neighbours of the Costcutter
store in Kingswood rallied round to sweep up glass and cut away mangled steel shutters as owner Piraba Selvarajah sur- veyed the wreckage. The following day, Piraba had
fixed two signs, thanking every- one for their help in getting the shop and Post Office ‘open as normal’. The smash-and-grab raid had
been so noisy it had woken many families in CharlesfordAv- enue and in neighbouring roads. Ajeep, which had been driven
into the front of the property, then dragged a cash machine from the back of the shop. Police later recovered a rope thought to have been used
to attach the machine, contain- ing around £2,000, to the vehi- cle.
They also found a jeep and a
4x4 vehicle as well as an empty cash machine in nearby Pitt Road. A shop assistant who lives
above the store was awoken at about 3.15am on Wednesday, August 17. From his bedroom, he could see men wearing bala- clavas and gloves outside. He knocked on his window but backed away when one of the men threw an object at the win- dow. He phoned Piraba, who told
him not to go downstairs and to alert the police. Piraba, who has run the shop
for eight years, said: “It’s unbe- lievable what happened. This is a quiet area with nice people.” By the morning shocked resi-
BROOMFIELD and Kingswood Parish Council clerk SueWotton said the ram raid had shaken the community, particu- larly those directly involved and neigh- bours who heard and saw what happened. “Thank goodness no-one was hurt,”
said MrsWotton. “Piraba and the shop staff are well liked and highly thought of within the community and provide a
dents had joined the major clean-up operation, in much the same way as commu- nities responded during the re- cent riots.
‘Business as usual’
valuable service to our residents and to those living in surrounding parishes whose shops have closed. “It was of no surprise to anyone that
they bounced back with such amazing speed and still managed to open for ‘business as usual’.
Piraba Selvarajah (pictured outside the shop with son Harry) and the signs thanking people for their help
“It was also great to see our residents pitching in and lending a hand with the clearing up. “We knowwe are lucky in still having a village store and it’s at times like this that the community spirit really kicks in. “People were pleased to be able to
show their appreciation for the shop and its staff in return for all they do for us.”
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