A shopkeeper has thanked villagers for an outpouring of support after he was attacked by a gang of teenagers.

Vinay Patel, who owns Best One Off Licence in Halling, spoke out earlier this month following repeated incidents in which his shop had been targeted by the same gang.

But since he highlighted the issue he's received visits and phone calls from residents past and present - and has even had to turn down offers from a group of younger children who wanted to protect the shop.

"It's been a very good response," he said. "Still people are coming here and telling me they support me, 70 to 80% of the village are supporting me.

"One of the ladies Nicky has been standing outside the door, and won't allow the group to come in. Still they keep coming.

"Some small kids, about 10 or 11-years-old, said 'we want to stand there'. There were five or six them. I said 'no you can't do that'. I said 'I know you love my shop but you need to be safe. Let the police deal with it. Just pray to god and behave yourselves.' They were saying 'look at my muscles.'

"I want to thank all the village for their support. There's a lot of people from Cuxton too, and people who had moved from here and know me. Some of them moved 20 years ago but have been phoning.

"My wife went to the Cash and Carry and a lady there had seen the article and said you've done a great job for retailers."

Nevertheless Mr Patel said the group continue to arrive and cause trouble - usually on sunny says, on their way to the nearby Blue Lake - and he is still hoping police and councillors will address the issue.

"We want to meet the chief of police, my MP and councillors," he added. "I want a meeting to sort things out."

Nicola Peggie is among the villagers supporting Mr Patel, and spoke from the shop on Friday as she was standing guard.

"The shop has been constantly having issues every year when it gets warm. They come 20 to 30 deep on the train. Especially this year with Covid, they're not checking tickets on the train so people are getting away with it.

"They just all come in, they rush in and frighten them, and it's not okay.

"I just came down to get some bits today but I said I've got a feeling because it's a hot day they'll be down any second.

"There was 16 of them. They just came running out of the train station and running towards the shop. We locked the door. They don't listen - they're a troublesome group and they're always a problem. It's needs a dispersal order, or British Transport Police need to be dealing with them to stop them coming on the train."

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