‘Hornchurch Town Centre has changed and not for the better’-Robberies, thefts and assaults encourage residents to turn elsewhere to shop.

Family run French’s Cafe broken into as thieves steal till and packets of bacon.

“I don’t shop in Hornchurch anymore now, since I had my purse stolen,” Julie tells the Havering Daily. “I used to drop my daughter off at school and then do some shopping locally, but now I drive to Lakeside instead as I feel safer there.”

Julie had her purse stolen two weeks ago by what she believes were distraction thieves working in Hornchurch town centre.

“I was in a shop and a woman came up to me to ask me directions. I didn’t think anymore of it until I went home and realised my purse had gone. The town centre has changed and not for the better. We read about break ins in our shops, pick pockets and assaults all being a regular occurence now.

“We need to see our police officers out and about to deter these people.

“Hornchurch was a quiet place to shop. Now we are fearing having our purses stolen, or our phones robbed.”

French’s Cafe was closed yesterday as sadly the popular family run outlet was broken into and robbed in the night.

Owner Mark told the Havering Daily: “When we got here we saw the door had been kicked in. They’ve smashed through the front door, came through the shop and had literally taken the whole till. They took a box with some money, and my daughter’s tips. They went into the kitchen and made a mess in there, took things out of the freezer and left them on the side and then stolen loads of packets of bacon.

“It really is upsetting. It’s very disturbing to see something like that happen.”

French is a family run cafe that has been in Hornchurch for 25 years. It is part of the Hornchurch community supporting residents through out the year and even opening on Christmas Day to provide a meal for people who are alone.

French’s was not the only shop to be targeted, there are reports of chemists, bakeries and Takeaways being robbed as well.

If you are in Hornchurch today and fancy a coffee or something to eat, pop into French’s Cafe and support this cafe who supports our local community.

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