Customers delighted as Crowland Spar re-opens following devastating ram raid

A store which was forced to close for four months after a devastating ramraid is once again serving customers

Crowland Spar welcomed customers back into the North Street shop on Thursday following a stressful four months for first time business owner, Arjun Parmer.

After taking on the store just eight weeks before it was raided on December 27, Arjun is now looking forward to settling back in and serving the town as he had originally planned before the setback.

He said: “The whole store is back open and I feel happy about it. Things are back to normal and seeing all the customers we used to serve is nice.

“We have had support from the community and they have all been waiting for us to open again. We are planning to just settle in here for now as it was all a bit stressful.”

Raiders used a stolen telehandler to rip the cash machine from the front of the building, which caused structural damage to the site.

It had left the town without a Post Office and forced Crowland Cares to organise weekly bus trips to Werrington, in order for people who do not drive to use the vital service.

The shop set up a temporary counter in Firmin & Co estate agent, so residents would not need to travel.

Arjun explained that news of the store’s reopening received lots of positive comments.

He said: “We got lots of likes and comments on our Facebook page. It made me feel quite proud that we knew all the customers would be back.”

The Spar will be open every weekday between 7am and 9pm.

Police have been contacted for an update on the investigation but are yet to respond.