Dunstable businesses left feeling ‘unsafe’ after string of break-ins
Police are investigating whether a number of break-ins at Dunstable businesses are connected
Businesses in Dunstable say they are feeling increasingly unsafe after a number of break-ins in the town in recent weeks.
Bedfordshire Police is investigating four commercial burglaries after officers said they believe the incidents are connected.
They include break-ins at Deakin White estate agents, Robinsons Estate Agents, TUI and Archie’s Bakery, which was broken into twice in the space of less than a week.
Hannah Hirst, owner of Archie’s Bakery, said she was woken by police at around 3am on September 27 after burglars broke into the bakery and stole a safe containing the previous day’s takings and float.
“They didn't seem to have really bothered with anything else. It's like they came to get that and that was that,” she said.
The bakery was targeted again only days later, when burglars smashed three more panes of glass at the front of the premises and took a bag of fizzy drinks.
“It was just ridiculous to have caused so much damage and stress to other people, just to take a bag of fizzy drinks,” Hannah said.
Then, in the early hours of October 4, Robinsons Estate Agents in West Street was broken into at around 12.50am, followed shortly afterwards by a break-in at Deakin White at around 1.08am.
Police also received a report of a similar break-in at the TUI store on Boscombe Road.
Officers on patrol discovered the damage at Deakin White and scenes of crime officers were sent to the premises.
Hannah said the repeated break-ins had left staff, her family and other shopkeepers feeling “shaken” and unsafe.
“We still don't really feel safe coming in the morning. You don't know what you're going to arrive to,” she said.
She added: “It's not just us feeling shaken, it's all the shopkeepers around here.”
The bakery has also suffered financially, losing two full days of trading following the two break-ins.
Hannah said: “As a small business, every penny that we take in a day counts. It keeps us open. So to lose two days' worth of takings is almost crippling.”
The business is now hoping to raise enough money for additional security, including shutters to protect the shop’s glass frontage.
“If it was to happen again, and especially if they were to take out the big window... it could signal the end if it were to happen again so soon after,” Hannah said.
Despite the disruption, the community has rallied around the bakery, with a fundraiser raising more than £750 and customers donating money and leaving drawings on the boarded-up doors.
“Having children come in and give you a picture that they've drawn for you to put on your door... it does bring a smile where it was difficult to smile before,” Hannah said.
Bedfordshire Police is urging anyone with information about the burglaries to come forward, quoting reference numbers 40/58121/26, 40/58127/26, 40/58128/26 or 40/56730/26.
Police say enquiries into the connected incidents are ongoing.