A café in Furze Platt is ‘absolutely grateful’ for the community support received in the weeks following a break-in.
The Italian restaurant based on Furze Platt Road for more than two decades was broken into in the early hours of Sunday, July 20.
Owner Roberto Palmieri was unable to share further details with the Advertiser due to an ongoing investigation by Thames Valley Police, but shared the footage captured by security cameras on social media.
“We had a mouse in the house,” read the video caption. “If anyone has some info, please reply to us.”
The post received more than 100 interactions on Facebook and dozens more on Instagram.
Roberto said the direct effect of the incident meant customers could only pay in cash, and time was spent replacing everything before they reopened on Thursday, July 24.
Loyal customers and café regulars helped by checking in with the owners and visiting two to three times in the week to help ‘recover a bit of the money lost’.
“For me and the family, we always work hard – at the end of the day, we just get on with it,” said Roberto.
“You feel somebody violated your property, and that is the bigger side of it, but on the other hand, looking at what the community did for us, you feel that you are not alone in the situation.
“People try to help you, so they gave us a distraction to go forward, and now we are up and running as normal.”
The family-owned eatery opens from Thursday to Sunday every week and is grateful for the sympathy and support shown since last month.
“It’s nice that you have a lot of people who are thinking of you and try to help you as well, especially this time – it’s great,” added Roberto.
Dining and Cooking