Thieves break into seafront tea rooms kiosk

Sand Bay Tea Rooms was broken into at the weekend. Picture: Sand Bay Tea Rooms (Image: Sand Bay Tea Rooms)

Sand Bay Tea Rooms, in Kewstoke, discovered its kiosk ‘trashed’ by vandals, stock ‘destroyed’ as well as a chest ice cream freezer filled with water on Sunday morning.

However, police called the tea rooms on Tuesday to confirm the stolen slush and coffee machine were found covered by blankets inside a car, which officers seized.

The vehicle, along with its contents, will now be forensically examined by police and CCTV in the area is also being reviewed.

The tea rooms got to work to clean the kiosk on Monday morning, replaced the coffee machine with a kettle and contacted T and L Wholesale, which delivered ice cream to the kiosk, which reopened on Tuesday.

Sand Bay Tea Rooms was broken into at the weekend. Picture: Sand Bay Tea Rooms (Image: Sand Bay Tea Rooms)

Sand Bay Tea Rooms shared the news on social media on Sunday and would like to thank people for their support.

A spokesman said: “A huge, huge thank you to all the people who have shared the original post and who have left the most supportive and amazing comments.

“To those who offered support and encouragement and messaged with offers of equipment and even financial help, we thank you and appreciate your generosity. There are a lot of good people out there for sure.

“Thankfully, we know our stolen items are soon to be returned and our insurer will cover some of the losses, which we can respectfully decline.

“The police have been nothing short of amazing in this, we literally cannot fault any of the officers who have been dealing with this case - they have shown a really caring attitude.”

A spokesman from Avon and Somerset Constabulary said: “We’re investigating following the burglary of a café in Kewstoke.

“Entry was forced into the premises and a small quantity of cash, along with items including a slush and coffee machine and a vacuum cleaner were stolen. The incident happened between 5pm on August 1 and 8am on August 2.

“The machines were later recovered from a car found abandoned a short distance from the café, while the vacuum cleaner was also located discarded nearby. The vehicle was subsequently seized by officers and enquiries are ongoing.”