It was a bit of a blustery day back before lockdown when I went to the Nook Corner Café in Anstey for a fantastic Full English Breakfast. Grand stuff.
I took the opportunity to chat to the owner, Sharon, about her business. She’s been running the Nork Corner Café for ten years now and has firm views on crime and policing. There is CCTV outside the shops around Cropston Road and The Nook. There four cameras, positioned so that they monitor the whole area and which are monitored full time, which his important. They help to deter anti-social behaviour and other incidents.
Sharon has also got CCTV inside her café. There is one monitoring the front door to see who comes in and out, and another looking at the till. “That is there to help protect staff,” explained Sharon. “It will deter people from making a grab for the money.”
There is another CCTV just around the corner by a door leading to an inner dining room. “That is there because we found people would take things off the shelves as they walked past. It’s really terrible. But that camera has put a stop to it. So my experience is that CCTV does work. With these cameras I can look on my phone – even when I’m away – and see what is going on.”
“But that did not stop our burglary,” Sharon continued. “This may make you smile, when I tell you that they painstakingly removed the roof tiles to enter via the upstairs ceiling! Who knows why this seemed a good idea? Maybe they were peckish? Anyway. It was a lot of effort for the sake of a few pounds float money.” Though, as ever with burglaries, it made a mess which cost time and money to put right.
And I'm not kidding about that breakfast. If you ever find yourself near Anstey pop in for brekkie. It is truly wonderful .
