POLICE officers are questioning five youths in connection with criminal damage following an incident outside a shop in Ipswich’s town centre.

Officers were called at around 5.50pm yesterday to a disturbance outside Shali Stores, opposite the Plough pub in Dogs Head Street.

Kak Omer, who was working behind the counter on his own at the time, said about five young men entered the shop.

He said a couple of them asked for cigarettes and when he refused to serve them because they looked underage, they tried to attack him. He ended up locking them in and called the police.

Mr Omer added: “They kept trying to attack me as two others outside kicked the window in to let them out. It was frightening, there were more of them than me. I was on my own.”

A spokesman for Suffolk police said officers were called to reports of criminal damage in the area yesterday evening.

Officers arrested five men on suspicion of criminal damage. They were taken to Ipswich police station and were being questioned.