THIEVES broke into a park kiosk at the weekend and made off with snacks, cash and even a charity box.
Gillian Stringfellow (pictured), who leases the kiosk at Beau Sejour, discovered the break-in when she opened up on Sunday afternoon.
‘At first I thought that somebody had broken the door handle. Then when I came in, part of the till was on the floor and half the drinks were out of the fridge, but I just couldn’t understand how they got in.’
The thieves had attempted to break down the door and eventually got in through the service hatch. They took the till, which had between £50 and £100 in change, chocolate, crisps, a Headway Guernsey charity box and a whole fruit cake.
‘They could have done a lot more damage. I think it’s just the end of the holiday when the kids are starting to get bored and poor.
‘It’s just upsetting for the children. It’s a little community up here.’
Mrs Stringfellow feared that incidents such as the burglary would put people off using the park. The number had fallen away previously after incidents of vandalism and hooliganism.
But Mrs Stringfellow, who also runs La Cucina, said that in the year that she had had the kiosk, there had been no trouble other than a little vandalism.
‘People are starting to come back to the park, but they will go somewhere else.
‘It took a year for everybody to start trusting it again.’
CCTV cameras, which focus on the kiosk, should have captured the theft so she hoped that would track down the culprits.
‘If you don’t report it, they will keep getting away with it and it will get worse for everyone.’
Police confirmed they were investigating.
‘This is not part of a spate of break-ins,’ said Sergeant Martyn Bougourd. ‘It’s just something that happened. We are looking for witnesses and we are still examining the CCTV footage.’
* Anyone with information on the incident, which took place between 5pm on Saturday and 1pm on Sunday, should call police on 725111.
Article posted on 19th August, 2008 - 2.29pm
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