Newcastle barber vows to reopen after ramraid

A barber from Newcastle has vowed to reopen his shop in Benwell following a ram-raid over the weekend.

Legends Barber Shop on Elswick Road in Benwell was subject to a ram-raid at 10.38pm on Saturday.

The passenger of the car got out and removed roadwork equipment before the car reversed at speed into the window of the shop before fleeing the scene.

Steven Leck, the owner of the the shop, told ITV News he was "devastated" about the incident, but promised to reopen the barbers as soon as possible.

Steven Leck said he was pleased the incident happened this weekend and not the weekend before, as it meant he could at least open up the shop for the first week back from the Covid lockdown.

After being hit hard by the pandemic restrictions, members of the local community offered support, with a go-fund-me page set up.

One of Mr Leck's customers, Wayne Clarke, spent three hours on Sunday helping him clear up the debris. He said "I'm disgusted, especially with what’s going on at the minute. The lad’s suffered for what, a year, two years now with this Covid and then somebody goes and does that with his shop. Absolutely disgusted."

Northumbria Police told ITV News an investigation is underway and that they found the vehicle burnt out and abandoned on Whitehouse Road in the city on Sunday.