Call for CCTV as yobs smash shopfront glass

Mr Jeffery and his wife, Dawn, have been forced to have part of their shopfront at Robin's hair studio renewed after vandals hurled a stone through a pane of glass.

They yobs used such force to get the stone, which they had carried up from the beach, through the window that it was found at the back of the couple's Aldwick Road premises.

Mr and Mrs Jeffrey face having to pay about 500 to renew the 6ft long and 5ft wide pane '“ one of three along their frontage '“ as well as having to spend the next few weeks with part of the frontage boarded up.

The couple had recently paid for the front of the salon to be painted. Some of that work will need to be repainted because it will be damaged by taking out the smashed glass and fitting a new pane.

Mr Jeffery said it was the third incident of vandalism of which he was aware among the neighbouring businesses in the past six months. The Observer has also reported about the frequent damage experienced by a nearby hair salon.

Robins was believed to have been targeted between 2am and 4am on Saturday, April 28. Mr and Mrs Jeffery live on the premises but failed to hear the glass being smashed.

"This salon has always helped Children in Need and we back the Bognor Birdman as well," said Mr Jeffrey. "To have one of our front windows damaged like this is a kick in the teeth for us. It's annoying and my wife was quite upset by the vandalism.

"CCTV would certainly be a deterrent to this sort of thing happening. We pay the same business rates as shops in the town centre but they have got CCTV all over the place and we haven't. A camera would never stop everything but, if the vandals think they are being watched, then it would help to protect the businesses along here."

Mr Jeffery said the police attended the salon after he had reported the damage on Saturday morning. But the lack of evidence meant there was nothing they could do to catch the culprits.

"They were shocked at how far back the stone was found in our salon," added Mr Jeffery.

Aldwick Parish Council has backed the idea of a CCTV camera in Aldwick Road in principle. It is willing to talk about the prospect of helping to fund a camera '“ at a possible cost of 20,000 '“ with Bognor Regis Town Council and Sussex Police.

l Mr and Mrs Jeffery have discovered that Robins hair studio is the oldest surviving business along Aldwick Road.

It was opened in 1937 by the father of Robin Mills, who sold the business to Mr and Mrs Jeffery in December 2005.