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Edinburgh Live
Edinburgh Live
National
Iona Young

Edinburgh shopkeeper's fury as store rebuilt after fire is targeted by vandals

An Edinburgh business in Gorgie that was torched and robbed just two years ago forcing them to close for over a year has been targeted by reckless vandals again.

Evelyn Blaney who has owned the shop on Gorgie Road for over 20 years told how the area had deteriorated due to the spike in anti-social behaviour and that she was worried for the community that have to deal with the frightening antics on a daily basis.

The most recent incident took place at Balloons Are Taking Off on Wednesday July 27 on Gorgie Road. The culprits vandalised the large banner and left dog mess on the doorstep of the shop.

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The balloon shop owner was raging to wake up and discover that the large banner on her business had been vandalised and also noticed dog faeces across the door step too.

The Gorgie shop owner explained that just before the pandemic her balloon shop was torched and robbed leaving the business closed for years while it went through an intensive refurbishment because of all the damage.

It took over a year for the store to recover, which was then hit by the pandemic and remained closed for a further 12 months. When they could finally open again the shop has been targeted by reckless vandals and careless dog owners who damage the exterior of the shop.

Like several businesses in the area Evelyn has been aware of an increase in anti-social behaviour in the Gorgie community leaving many business owners afraid to come to work.

Speaking to Edinburgh Live she said: "I have owned my shop for 23 years, it was set on fire in 2019 after someone had broken in and stolen laptops. We opened back up again in July 2020 and were forced to close again because of the pandemic.

"We came in this morning and couldn't believe the damage. The banner was scrawled in graffiti, its going to cost £1000 its a 6ft by 6ft huge banner. We tried cleaning it but had no luck, its so frustrating. We have had enough."

The irate local continued: "We've had a few incidents recently the shop two doors down was attacked on Saturday too. The area is just terrible, parents must know what is going on.

"Somebody's dog s*** right next to our door. They let their dogs pee on the side of the shop and it peels the paint away so we have to keep repainting it. It's so frustrating there is nothing we can do."

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The fuming shop owner took to a local community page to make others aware of the selfish behaviour. One local exclaimed: "If this was happening in morning side they would have it sorted right away."

Another said: "Thats disgusting surely they have something else to do other than damage people property." While one added: "Absolutely shocking when you are working hard to make a living."

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