Vandalism: Exeter Rd CCTV plea
EXETER Road businesses are calling for CCTV cameras to be installed after a spate of vandalism - causing thousands of pounds of damage - over the weekend.
EXETER Road businesses are calling for CCTV cameras to be installed after a spate of vandalism - causing thousands of pounds of damage - over the weekend.
The extent of the damage has prompted Exmouth police to offer a �200 reward to the person with information that leads to a conviction, writes Becca Gliddon.
Three Exeter Road businesses were deliberately targeted - two had their windows scratched and another had a window cracked.
Neighbourhood beat manager PC Sallyanne Southern said: "This is mindless damage and it has to stop. The replacement of these windows runs into thousands of pounds."
The business owners believe the town's CCTV system should be extended to Exeter Road.
On Saturday night, Krispies suffered damage to three windows, which were scratched with large letters 'NKS'.
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The same letters were gouged into Potty Potatoes' window around the same time. Further down the road, the Sunkissed Tanning Studio had its window cracked between Friday evening and Saturday - the third time the business had been hit in the past two months.
Police said a number of properties along Exeter Road had also been damaged.
Krispies' owner Tim Barnes, 31, said: "Vandals have caused �2,600 of damage, if I wanted to replace them.
"Whoever did this obviously has no respect for other people's property.
"CCTV needs to be extended from the main town because Exeter Road is quiet and dark and more vulnerable."
Potty Potatoes owner Dave Edmunds, 57, who took over the business just days before the attack, said: "We would like the same sort of protection that is offered in the town centre."
A spokesman for the Sunkissed Tanning Studio said: "People cause vandalism when they realise there aren't any cameras. I am shocked there's no CCTV, because Exeter Road is one of the dodgiest streets in the town."
Exmouth town manager Tony Collins said extra policing in the area could be the solution.
He said: "I would support CCTV cameras in Exeter Road in principle, but only if there was a strong economic case for them.
