THE owner of a cafe in Braintree is reeling after her business was targeted by crooks for a third time in just six months.

Pasha Cafe was hit by a lone raider who broke into the popular town centre venue at around 1am on Monday morning.

CCTV shows the burglar walk around the back of the building before approaching the glass front door with what is believed to be a brick.

The figure smashes the glass before kicking in what is left of it and walking inside.

Owner Hazel Bellikli said he spent around around 17 minutes at the rear of the building before stealing the £100 float from the till and leaving.

It’s estimated the damage to the door will set the cafe back a further £260, while Hazel said she is now looking into fitting shutters for the windows at the cafe which could costs thousands of pounds.

It is the third time in six months the cafe has been hit with thieves raiding it in November 2018 and January earlier this year.

Gazette: Fed-up: Hazel alongside the boarded-up doorFed-up: Hazel alongside the boarded-up door

Hazel said: “It’s like mental torture, it’s at the point where I’m losing sleep at night because I’m not sure what I’m going to find when I wake-up and come in the next morning.

“Why Pasha? We do so much for the community and we don’t have anything which makes us particularly vulnerable - we have alarms and we have the CCTV.

“I just can’t understand it, we’re right in the town centre but none of the other businesses have had the problems we have been having."

Her daughter went to cafe in the early hours of Monday morning after the alarm was raised and was at the shop for several hours cleaning up so the business could open as usual.

Since the latest raid Hazel said she has been inundated with phone calls and messages wishing her well.

Hazel added: “I must say thank you to everyone who has been in touch, the support we have had really does mean a lot.”

A spokesman for Essex Police said: “Enquiries are ongoing after reports of a burglary at a business on Leather Lane, Braintree.

“Pasha Cafe was broken in to at around 1.25am on Monday, April 22.

“Officers were on the scene within five minutes and conducted a search of the area and reviewed CCTV at the premises.

“We would like to appeal for anyone who may have seen the incident, but not yet spoken to our officers, or who may have seen a man or teenager in a knee-length black coat with a beige hood, in the area at around this time."

Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101 quoting crime reference number 42/62602/19.