Co-op offers £20,000 reward in bid to catch ram raiders
The Co-op in Dedham has been heavily damaged in a ram raid. Picture: ARCHANT
East of England Co-op are offering a reward of £20,000 for information that leads to the conviction of the criminals behind a recent spate of ram raids in Suffolk and Essex.
East of England Co-op are offering a reward of £20,000 for information that leads to the conviction of the criminals behind a recent spate of ram raids in Suffolk and Essex.
The news comes after a Co-op food store in Dedham was the latest business to be ram raideded after a car ploughed into the shop front on Sunday (DEC 10th) morning.
Yesterday, (MON) villiagers told the EADT of being ‘devastated’ by the crime that has cut off a vital supplier.
Maggie Demuth, who volunteers in the St Helena hospice shop said: “It’s absolutely awful and just devastating for the village.
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“That shop really is the only place to buy food in the village. If you can’t drive you really are going to struggle now.”
Maggie’s co-worker, Sophie Geary said: “There’s lots of elderly people here who rely on having a village shop.
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“A lady who lives near me walks to the Co-op every day. It’s about as far as she can walk and that will be her social interaction with people for that day. It’s very sad.”
Robin Wilson, bar manager at Marlborough Head Inn said: “I don’t know that the reward will help catch them. They won’t be local to here and nobody would have seen anything at that time. They’ve made a huge mess to the building.”
Sonia Brown, who works in the pharmacy, said: “There’s been a lot of concern in the village today. People are very worried.”
Mr Larkin, who also works in Dedham said: “It’s such a bad time of year too. Lots of people won’t like to drive in the snow and now they have nowhere local to shop. It’s very sad.”
Roger Grosvenor, joint chief executive for the East of England Co-op, said: “We are also offering a reward of £20,000 for information that leads to a successful conviction of those behind the recent spate of ram raids across Essex and Suffolk.
“The store will be closed for the foreseeable future whilst extensive repair works are carried out.
“We are in conversations with the Parish Council to find a suitable location within the village for a temporary store.
“In the meantime, our mobile shop will be situated outside the Church on the High Street between 8am and 4.30pm, Monday to Sunday”.
