Bicester dessert shop vandalised three weeks after opening

Ramzi Sassi opened his brand new business, House of Flavors patisserie and artisan sweet shop in Sheep Street earlier this month, on March 7.

But on Tuesday morning, the 41-year-old business owner turned up to discover the shop had been broken into, with the door badly damaged and the glass frontage broken, and the till robbed of all its cash.

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Mr Sassi was devastated to have to temporarily shut the shop, while a preliminary investigation was carried out and things got ‘back up and running’, but was able to open later the same day.

The front door of the shop was badly damaged and glass was smashed (Image: Contributed)

He said: “Suffering a break in so soon is just sad honestly.

“This is my first business after more than 14 years of working in Bicester and Bicester Village, as I decided to open a shop after the shop I worked at for more than seven years closed down.

“It’s disheartening to have this kind of setback. It was absolutely unexpected.”

Thames Valley Police have confirmed that they are aware of the burglary, which occurred at about 2.30am on Wednesday, and are “conducting a thorough investigation”.

The shop had only been open for three weeks when it suffered the break-in (Image: Contributed)

A spokesperson for the force said: “We would appeal to anyone with information or footage to contact the force using the reference number 43260145393.”

Before the break-in, however, the new owner said things were going well.

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Mr Sassi said: “We felt very welcomed by the community in Bicester, and we had great reviews for both our cakes and the selection of dry fruits and nuts in our shop.

“The community has also been great with supporting us with comments and private messages, and we really appreciated all the love.”

House of Flavors is now open for business as usual between the opening hours of 9am to 5.30pm Monday to Saturday, opening at 10am on Sundays.