THE owners of two independent businesses in Exmouth have spoken of their shock at waking up to find their shop windows smashed-in by "mindless vandals" in a late night attack.
Police are appealing for witnesses after the windows of motor spares shop, Autosave and Oliver's Hairdressers on Exeter Road, had rocks thrown through them in the early hours of Saturday, January 10.
Police officers are calling the incident, which was reported to them by a member of the public at around 6am, as criminal damage.
They are appealing to anyone who may have witnessed the incident or have any information about who was behind it, to contact them urgently.
Steven Cudd, has owned Autosave for 26 years and said the incident caused immeasurable "hassle" and upset and means they now face a higher insurance premium next year as a result and the added cost of installing CCTV.
The 64-year-old is still weighing up the cost of the damage.
Stock inside his shop as well as the window was damaged and it took Steven, his son and a friend, several hours to clean up, thankfully not forcing him to close the shop.
"As there were two of us affected, it's likely this is the actions of mindless vandals rather than being personally targeted," he said.
"It was a complete and utter mess, it was shatter glass so it went absolutely everywhere, all over the stock and the shelves.
"It took us several hours to shovel it all off the floor, and the shop front outside was covered in glass.
"It beggars belief really, business is hard enough for everyone these days as it is, the last thing you need is something like this to happen.
"Rocks or bricks aren't found lying around outside the shop on the street, so for someone to deliberately go out and find something, just makes me angry more than anything.
"What went through their mind, whether it was for a buzz or sheer fun, or what, and not to think about the consequences, I don't know."
He added: "The hassle it's caused us has been immense, it's been hard work and we've been pretty fed up.
"The police officer, PC Southern, was a great help and support and she tried her hardest to make sure we were OK.
"In 26 years nothing like this has ever happened, but we'll now be looking at installing CCTV which is another cost for us."
Helen Price, who has worked in Oliver's for 26 years and run it for nine, said the incident has left her feeling "awful" and nervous about whether it could happen again.
The 40-year-old is calling on the police to install CCTVcameras along Exeter Road to ward off future would-be vandals.
"You can't help take it personally," she said. "Luckily I didn't have to close and my customers were really sympathetic, and I can't thanks Steve and the others from Autosave enough for clearing up the mess.
"But it's left me feeling pretty awful, nothing like this has ever happened before.
"I don't want Exmouth to get like this – I don't want to be forced to put shutters up as we like having a shop front, and like to do Christmas displays for people.
"Now I'm left wondering if my shop's going to be safe or not."
"What we need is CCTV along Exeter Road like there is in other parts of the town."
Anyone with any information is urged to contact the police on 101 or anonymously via Crimestoppers on, 0800 555111 and quote crime reference numbers, CR/2271/15 and CR/2272/15.
