A popular Burnham-On-Sea Italian restaurant is counting the cost of weekend vandalism.
La Vela in Abingdon Street says hundreds of pounds of damage was caused to the front of the restaurant when its windows were cracked by a group of “drunken people” late on Saturday (July 4th), the day that pubs and bars re-opened as the lockdown eased.
The restaurant closed for two months at the start of this year for a £100,000 refurbishment when its facilities were upgraded with a new look and extra seating – but then in March it had to close for the lockdown.
Hazel Kocacay, owner of La Vela, told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “There was a group of people – between 20 and 30 – who had too many drinks and were fighting in the street late on Saturday.”
“Two of them got close to the door and I saw one of them punching the door and then break the window. I have reported it to the Police – we do have CCTV footage of the incident.”
She says the incident is incredibly frustrating when the restaurant is working on its re-opening plans.
“It will cost a lot of money to repair the damage. It’s not good when all you’re trying to do is survive the pandemic and I have put everything into this business.”
She adds that a safe re-opening of the full restaurant is being planned for three weeks’ time, but in the meantime it will be open for takeaways from 14th July.
“We want to take things slowly and keep everyone safe until everybody has get used to following the rules.”
The family-run business is Burnham’s only Italian restaurant and prides itself on serving fresh ingredients in all its dishes. La Vela opened in Burnham in 2006, as reported here.
