St Martin’s hedge veg stalls hit by vandals
HEDGE veg stall owners in St Martin’s were disappointed when their traditional small businesses were hit by vandals over the weekend.
Jars from two stalls on Les Vaurioufs were taken and smashed in the road.
Sarah Girard sells homemade chutneys and jams, along with bird boxes and firewood.
Her stall has not had any problems for years, so she was surprised and upset when she was alerted on Sunday morning that there was glass all over the road.
‘Obviously I’m annoyed, it’s mindless vandalism, and I’m upset that they actually came on my property with the intent to do damage. They couldn’t have leant over the hedge they would have had to come onto the property, and they haven’t got anything better to do. I don’t think it could have been one person, I think it was a group.’
Mrs Girard cleaned up the glass because she was worried about it injuring pets and wildlife.
From now on she said she would keep all her produce inside, but the bad experience would not stop her from keeping the stall.
She said the hedge veg stalls were a proper Guernsey tradition that most people really appreciated.
‘People love it, visitors love it, I’ve had visitors stopping in the summer to say how lovely it is to see all the honesty boxes, most people are good citizens but there are a few louts.’
Dave and Carol Brouard have a hedge veg stall just down the road.
A ceramic pot and two glass jars from it were smashed in the road the same night.
Mr Brouard picked up the broken glass, which he said was dangerous, particularly for dogs.
‘I think whoever did it was walking down the road as stuff was thrown that way,’ he said.
‘Mindless idiots with the brain of a rocking horse.’
‘It was probably more hassle for us picking it up than the fun they had from doing it.’
Police are appealing for witnesses to the criminal damage which happened sometime between 8pm and midnight on Saturday.
n Anyone with information is asked to contact PC 135 Simmonds on 222222 or Crimestoppers anonymously, on 0800 555111.
