It Might Not Be The Shutters At Fault...

In a desperate bid to avoid pointing fingers at the elephants in the room, Croydon Council is reconsidering it's objections to....security shutters.

Yes, really:

The review has been prompted by the extensive damage caused to shops during the riots on August 8 last year.

Current policy favours see-through shutters placed either inside or outside shop windows.

However, many shopkeepers believe heavy metal grilles, which are seen as an eyesore, would have kept windows intact and protected their businesses from being looted.

Now, yes, we've been here before, Colchester Council being another that would rather their streets look 'aesthetically pleasing' than shopkeepers' premises were protected.

And certainly, the council seems to have some evidence for their potential u-turn:

While neighbouring stores such as Argos were gutted, Hewitts of Croydon, in Church Street, suffered no damage because looters were unable to break through the shop's security panels.

Manager Martin Hewitt said: "Luckily they didn't manage to get through the heavy-duty shutters we have outside the shop.

"They were kicking and smashing them but they couldn't get in.

"We had the shutters put in because people kept breaking our windows on Friday and Saturday nights.

"Our security seemed to have worked, so we were very lucky in that respect."

However, in the comments, it's suggested that they might not have been trying too hard anyway:

The_Third_Eye

“"While neighbouring stores such as Argos were gutted, Hewitts of Croydon, in Church Street, suffered no damage because looters were unable to break through the shop's security panels."

Of course Hewitts was left alone they sell school uniform, whereas Argos sells FlatScreens, Laptops, Mobile phones and other high end electricals.”

Hmmm....