A cafe owner has hit out at would-be thieves who targeted her business last night.
Emily Black, who runs Ems & Co in Station Square, Dingwall, discovered the damage to the door when she arrived this morning to begin baking goods.
She accused the culprits of being “thoughtless” and adding to the “hurdles” many small businesses are facing in the wake of Covid-19.
Miss Black said as soon as she saw the smashed window, she feared the worst – but thankfully, the culprits fled empty-handed.
“My dad changed the locks a couple of weeks ago and I think that probably helped and made it much harder for them to get in which is one silver lining,” she said.
“I am lucky that they weren’t able to get in.”
Miss Black only opened her business in March – just 12 days before the UK went into lockdown.
She is determined the latest blow won’t stop her however, and was back in the kitchen baking within hours.
“You don’t really expect something like this to happen here,” she said.
“I know there have been break-ins to other local businesses recently but it is not something you expect to be the norm in this part of the world
“I just think what is the point? What are they going to find in my cafe?
“It is very thoughtless.
“It is disappointing. It has been a bumpy start to 2020 and it is another wee hurdle along the way.
“I am glad nothing has been taken and I hope they catch whoever done this. There are lots of other businesses in Dingwall who are just as much at risk as I am.”
A police spokeswoman said: “We received a report of a break-in to a premises on Station Square, Dingwall, on Tuesday September 8 which is believed to have happened overnight.”
The incident comes just a week after break-ins at two premises in Cromarty.
Cromarty Brewing Co closed its doors until further notice with The Egg Box suffering the same fate after its egg box machine sourced from Holland was taken.
Delivery of a replacement machine, worth more than £1,000, was anticipated to take more than two weeks.
