A man has hit out at teenagers who are threatening his livelihood after his coffee shop was vandalised for the third time in less than two years.
Sedat Begolli, 47, who owns Café 038 in Childs Hill Park, believes unruly youths from the estate in nearby Granville Road are responsible for a string of crimes, including burglary and arson.
In the latest incident, on May 7, he believes drunk teenagers ran across the roof and set fire to the coffee shop.
Mr Begolli said: "They set fire to the bins behind the café and it was lucky the fire brigade got there in time or it would have been destroyed.
"The neighbours saw them running up and down the roof and called the police. The police said it was an accident but everybody around here knows what the youths from the estate are like.
"If you leave £1 in your car they'll break in and steal it."
The first burglary happened in September last year and another burglary took place in September 2006.
But, Mr Begolli said, the perpetrators have consistently evaded being caught and punished.
"These kind of things happen all the time," he added. "I had shutters over the windows but they still broke in. They stole a TV and covered the walls in tomato ketchup. The alarm was going off but nobody gives a damn."
Childs Hill Safer Neighbourhood team's police community support officers patrol the area, but they do not work night shifts.
Mr Begolli said: "The park is locked at night, but people jump the fence and have drunken parties inside all night long."
A resident of Nant Road, who did not want to be named, believes antisocial behaviour in the area has worsened.
"There are a lot of scallywags around here," she said.
"They've got nothing to do. They need to be given a youth club or get them interested in something."
Sergeant Shannon Farthing of the Childs Hill Safer Neighbourhood team said although there has historically been a problem with young people in the area, it has greatly improved over the past two years.
"We did a lot of work round there to stop the kids hanging around and it's not an area we get a lot of calls from anymore," she said.
"The CCTV cameras installed have helped. Some of the kids have grown up and others have been rehoused. It's certainly not an area we see as a problem these days."
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