The co‑owner of a Cwmbran café has thanked customers and neighbouring businesses for rallying around him after a break‑in left his shop damaged just hours before opening.
Liam Bladen, who runs EB’s (Eliza Bears) on Oldbury Road in Old Cwmbran, discovered the burglary early on Monday 23 February. The café, named after his nine‑year‑old daughter Eliza, has been open for just six months.
He left the premises at around 10pm on Sunday 22 February and woke to a message from a neighbouring business showing a smashed window.
“I got a photo from someone I know at about 7.30am [of the smashed window]” he told Cwmbran Life. “So I was straight down here, called the police. The police were straight out here, and CSI (Crime Scene Investigations).”
Two bricks had been thrown through the front window before the burglars climbed inside.
They ripped out the bottom till drawer and escaped with just £30 in petty cash. Liam urged other small businesses not to leave money on site and to keep tills open overnight to deter thieves.
Community support
Despite the damage, EB’s was able to reopen later the same day thanks to what Liam described as “amazing” community support.
He was touched by the reaction of local businesses and his customers.
Liam said: “I still managed to open Tuesday night. The community of Cwmbran was amazing. My cousin owns a building company. He come and put the boarding in for free.
“They’re fitting a new window on Friday.
“Cwmbran Timber [directly opposite EB’s], as soon as we got here, teas and coffees. They’ve been helping us.
“Upstairs, there’s a company called Primrose…she was down checking on us all the time.
“Even window cleaners have messaged me and said they’d come and clean all the windows up because they’re one of my regulars, ProClean [Pro Clean Windows & Guttering Ltd], just at the end.
‘Absolutely amazing’
“It’s been absolutely amazing, just the support off people saying they’d come in and do all the cleaning up for us as well. It’s been really good.”
He said the response from customers was just as overwhelming: “We have to stand up now and say we’re not letting it affect us and we’re carrying on and keep going. And to be fair, the support of people ordering that night, it was one of the busiest nights I’ve had, so everyone gathered around us and ordered food just to give us that support from Cwmbran.
“We’ve had a lot of people come just to check on us and say ‘is everything ok? Do you need anything?’ It just shows that Cwmbran is a very good community and it’s just a couple of people doing it.”
He said three other local businesses were burgled over Sunday and Monday night. Cwmbran Life has asked Gwent Police for information and will follow up next week.
Any information?
Anyone who has information should call Gwent Police on 101 or via social media, quoting log number GWP‑20260223‑0068.