A man who set up a Northfleet business earlier this year says he has been hounded by yobs and is desperate to leave after his shop was broken into and hundreds of pounds taken, as well as a charity box.

Two fast food businesses were targeted by burglars in the early hours of Monday morning.

It is believed more than one person broke into Northfleet Fried Chicken in the High Street, using a brick to smash through the front door at around 4am.

Thiyagarajah Arunthavachelvam only started the business six months ago, but after a string of anti-social issues, in July he put it up for sale.

He was alerted to the burglary at 7.30am when a regular customer and friend saw the damage and gave him a call.

The alarm had been heard by neighbours in the morning but the shop’s CCTV was not working.

Police and forensics teams arrived later in the morning to check for evidence, including fingerprints.

The till drawer had been removed, containing the float and some of the previous days takings totalling £300, and a charity box had been taken off the side with an unknown amount inside. A tablet was also taken.

Mr Arunthavachelvam believes it will cost around £800 to repair the damage.

The former fish and chip shop seemed like a good purchase for the 47-year-old, who also runs Save On convenience store in Valley Drive, Gravesend, which has been doing well for years. Now he just wants to leave.

Sweeping up the shattered glass later that morning, he said: “We have a lot of problems around here and I want to sell up and go. I’ve had enough.

“There are some very nasty kids who come in, they jump all over the counter and make other customers feel threatened, often high on drugs.

“There’s always trouble. Last week the work van got broken into. The windows were smashed and some change inside was taken.

"People also tried to break into here through the back door, it looked like somebody had gone at it with a crowbar.

“I have called the police in the past over these things, but the young people aren’t scared of them. Not long ago they pulled a big council bin into the middle of the road and sat in it, holding up all the traffic.

"I told them I would call the police but they just laughed and said ‘okay, we don’t care’.”

His daughter Thulasy, 19, who helps out with the shop said: “Sometimes the kids are ok, it’s just a problem when they come as a group.

"The police don’t always respond to us quickly enough, but the team who came here today were good.”

Police have asked that anyone with information call 101 quoting reference XY/32778/16.

In the same night just couple of hundred yards away, Frying Crew fish and chip shop in The Hive was also broke into and the till drawer taken. Again the window was smashed. Police said they were called out at 1.48am.

One former police officer who saw the damage said there was “always something” going on in the area.

The man, who did not want to be identified but lives nearby, said the force had changed a lot since he left and constant pressures meant officers had to concentrate on more serious crimes.

Next door to NFC is Blades barbers, which looks more like a high security unit outside, and is covered in CCTV cameras.

Owner JJ Saied said: “I was threatened last week. Someone told me to pack up and leave the area. I told police and he’s been dealt with. I’ve been here three years but there’s always trouble.

“People have tried to break into the shop before but they couldn’t get through my automatic shutters. I’ve called the police about six times. Now I’ve installed cameras everywhere, it doesn’t look like any other barbers I’ve seen, but I need to protect myself.

“It’s a busy area and you do see police driving past, but it doesn’t deter people.”
Paul Smith has lived nearby in College Road for around 15 years.

The retired 59-year-old said: “It’s interesting that with Paramount and the Ebbsfleet Garden City the council has realised Northfleet exists, they didn’t seem to care much before.

“I live in a private house, one of four surrounded by blocks of council flats and you never know who’s going to end up as your neighbour next, or what trouble they will bring with them.

“You’re always going to get problems with the youths round here, in Wallis Park and Council Avenue, but things seem to have got a bit better since they shipped a few off to King’s Farm and we’ve had Polish and eastern Europeans move in here instead.

“I’ve got cameras covering my whole house, you’ve just got to be careful.”

In an earlier spate of burglaries, two people who stole £11,000 in minutes from two Gravesend businesses remain at large.

The raiders broke into Pizza GoGo and Sultan Sofrasi, both in New Road, Gravesend, on June 7 with a crowbar and a pickaxe.

Pizza GoGo franchise owner Ali Mushtaq, 32, discovered the safe containing about £8,000 had been wrenched out and taken.

His neighbour, Mehmet Celik, owner of the Turkish restaurant, found his iPad, jars of staff tips totalling £400 and £2,500 were gone.

One of the raids was captured on CCTV.

A police spokesman said this week: “There are no outstanding lines of inquiry into the reported burglaries in New Road, Gravesend, so both have been filed pending any further information coming to light. The victims have been informed.”