SMALL businesses are the backbone of our economy.

Further, the successful ones are the result of much hard work and dedication by a man or woman with the determination to make things happen.

So it is particularly saddening to see small businesses targeted by criminals especially in the case of Staunch Clothing within just weeks of opening.

The Staunch Clothing shop in New Inn was burgled overnight in a raid which has left the store empty of stock.

This is a business which was started by a young entrepreneur, initially as an online venture .

Only recently after months of hard work Bradley Kirby feld confident enough to take the big, and expensive, step of taking over a shop unit.

Now he has suffered a major setback. All stock, worth around £10,000, was taken in a raid by several people.

The store was left ransacked in a raid which apparently took several hours and was obviously pre-planned.

This is a crying shame for a man at the start of his business career.

Those who broke in probably think of burglaries such as this as victimless. But they are not. The one hope is that the CCTV footage will lead to a successful prosecution of all those involved.

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