VANDALS have targeted a popular Dorchester café, as residents and traders complain of drunken violence in the area.

The Horse with the Red Umbrella, on High East Street, had its window smashed for the fifteenth time in fourteen years, in the early hours of Saturday, April 8.

Owner John Fiori, is fed up of the repeat attacks at the café, and what he claims is the lack of policing on drunk or violent people in the area at night.

It also comes after a rise in crime with a number of businesses burgled in the county town.

Mr Fiori said: “There’s no security or police presence at three or four o’clock in the morning. All the neighbours are complaining about the noise and the shouting and swearing.”

Mr Fiori, who is also chairman of Dorchester BID, said that he had a discussion with a previous police inspector and local MP Oliver Letwin regarding the violence and anti-social behaviour in the town at night.

He added: “They were unhappy with the violence that was going on at certain times of night. They did change the policing for a while, but only for a short while. It seemed to get better, but now we have gone back to nothing.”

Mr Fiori has owned the business for nearly fourteen years, and with more than one window smashed every year, he is concerned about the violence at weekends.

He said: “It gets you down. It’s hard to run a business these days. Especially when you’re coming up to the holidays in the year too. Christmas, Easter, summer, you wonder if another window is going to get smashed.”

A spokesman for Dorset Police said: "We were called at 6:25am on Saturday, April 8, to reports of a window smashed at the Horse with the Red Umbrella.

"It is believed to have happened between 5:15pm on Friday night and 5:30am on Saturday. It doesn't appear that entry was gained."

Local businesses on the high street are aware of the issue of violence at the weekends.

Iona Service, who owns Gesso interior design shop on the same street, said: “People who live here have seen people spilling out of places drunk, and in the evening it gets a bit rowdy.”

Fiona Harper, an owner of Local Lunch next door to the Horse with the Red Umbrella, said: “It’s something we’re aware of. We haven’t been affected yet, but we’ve thought it through insurance wise.”

Mr Fiori said the price of insurance on the café rises with every smashed window.

He said: “It’s not even worth claiming because they put the price up. You end up being three or four hundred pound out of pocket each time. The people who replace the windows know me off by heart by now.”