Leeds traders say crime at 'all-time high' as shopfronts smashed and owners sleep inside restaurants
Business owners in north Leeds are being plagued by an unrelenting series of attempted break-ins - with some so desperate they’ve taken to sleeping inside their own restaurants.
With shopfronts routinely smashed and victims left to foot the bill, traders in once-thriving neighbourhoods like Oakwood, Roundhay, and Chapel Allerton said that the situation has reached a crisis point.
In the most recent incident on June 3, a masked criminal is understood to have targeted several premises, leaving a trail of smashed glass and broken panels.
They include Punjabi Heaven, on Roundhay Road in Oakwood, which is run by owner Regina Santos. She said: “Every night, we lie awake, fearful that our businesses may be the next targets of crime.
“The worry is not only for us but for our neighbours who share the same fate. In an effort to protect our businesses during busy times, we have even resorted to sleeping on the floors of our establishments. We cannot afford the luxury of rest when our livelihoods are at stake. The situation has become unbearable.”
The 40-year-old said that the latest attack on Punjabi Heaven came just three weeks after Signature Sweets, the restaurant’s sister business, was targeted. Despite installing shutters and window grills, the crimes have continued.
She said: “Last year, police caught someone for similar criminal activity and he was given a prison sentence - but even if these people do get caught, it seems the system is not working. Prison doesn’t work on its own. We see that criminality is rising.
“Police don’t have the resources to be patrolling the streets through the night - and the sad thing is that until someone gets badly hurt, it does not feel like there will be action. When you’re trying to manage a business with all of the overheads that you can’t control, break-ins are another expense that you just can’t afford.”
Kofi & Co, a nearby cafe on Street Lane, was also targeted in the early hours of yesterday morning (June 3). Owner Harrison Pinder said: “I was not here at the time, but a guy came to the door, had a look around, and then went at the bottom panel with a wrench three or four times.
“He had no luck, so then he started volleying it with full force seven or eight times. He damaged it, but it’s still standing.
“The scariest part of it all was that he was on the parade for about 30 minutes - he wasn’t rushing. This is one of the busiest roads in Roundhay - and he was absolutely leathering front doors with no fear in him at all.”
While police are investigating, owners like Mr Pinder said they remain sceptical that much will change. The 30-year-old continued: “There's only so much the police can do, because he was in a balaclava. I’m sure that, if it’s not him again, someone else will pop up and try it again soon.”
He estimated repairs that repairs would cost in the region of £350, adding: “I could be spending that on staff or new crockery, but instead I have to spend it on some idiot who decided to smash the door.
“I'm from Roundhay, and I’d say that crime here is at an all-time high. There are about eight premises between Oakwood and Street Lane that have their windows all boarded up - it’s quite depressing.”
The latest incidents come just one month after wine thieves smashed their way into George & Joseph, the popular cheesemongers on Harrogate Road in Chapel Allerton.
On May 9, owner Stephen Fleming arrived to find a bag of wine bottles abandoned outside and the front door destroyed. A laptop was also stolen, with around £300 worth of stock taken.
The Yorkshire Evening Post has previously reported on how the owners of popular cafe Tasty Kitchen and Coffee, on Roundhay Road in Oakwood, said they were left feeling helpless after a “spate of burglaries”.
Sergeant Jo Durrell-Walsh, of the North East Leeds Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: “We have received reports of a number of burglaries and attempted burglaries at businesses in the Roundhay area of Leeds, including five offences which have taken place in the early hours of Tuesday, 3 June.
“We understand the concern that this causes for local businesses. We have either made contact or will be making contact with the affected businesses and offering crime prevention advice and following up available lines of enquiry.
“If anyone witnessed any suspicious behaviour in the early hours of 3 June or has any information that could assist us in our enquiries, they are asked to contact North East Leeds NPT via Live Chat online or by calling 101, quoting crime reference 13250311413.”