A popular cafe in Christchurch has been broken into by youths, who were caught on CCTV stealing hundreds of dollars in the process.

At 4.08am on Saturday 24th June, five youths entered the Scarborough Fare Cafe in Sumner through the front door using a crow bar. 

Cafe owner Lyndon Hadden said he arrived early the next morning to find the entrance full of broken glass.

Lyndon told Chris Lynch Media the culprits smashed the whole front building glass in and entered, which was all caught on the cafe’s CCTV.

“One person went straight into the Ice Cream shop and proceeded to take cans of Coke. Another person then ripped the cash draw from the table which made the whole table fall over, he said.

“The cash draws held our coins and five dollar notes so I would say between $200-$300 was taken between both cash draws.”

Lyndon said the youths then took a box to fill with soft drinks, and proceeded to tip out all of the ice cream cones.

“The youths in the main front bar area proceeded to take the cash draw and ripped it from the bench also causing the till to fall off.

“They also took the contents from the tip jar, leaving the jar on the floor.”

Lyndon said his wife, who was with him at the time, went to the front door while he phoned the police and looked on the security camera to see the clear footage of the break in.

“The Police then came, and were great. I gave a detailed description to them, and they came around to take fingerprints as needed within 72 hours.

“We cleaned up the mess and proceeded to take the tables and chairs out with the help of another lovely customers who lives over the road. She was amazing! We were back up and running by 7.30 serving coffee.”

Police have confirmed to Chris Lynch Media they are investigating the burglary, and are continuing to follow lines of enquiry into the incident.

Lyndon said he will probably install another camera facing the park, and change the security systems at the cafe to prevent another incident.

In the meantime, the cafe is still open as usual, with loyal customers coming through the doors.

“Hopefully the annual sumner mid winter dip on this Sunday morning will bring more people in, it’s always a popular event.”