A trader has been left feeling “violated” after her new café on Weymouth beach was broken into.

Tulay Cantas, 50, opened her Top Cat Café kiosk on Preston Beach Road for business only three weeks ago, but it was forced into and raided by a hooded thief on Thursday.

Mrs Cantas discovered someone had broken into her café when she arrived to open up the store in the morning and immediately reported the incident to the police, who are now investigating.

CCTV she had from earlier that morning revealed that the culprit had forced his way in through one of the kiosk’s hatches at 4.50 am, she said.

She went through her café and found that the man had stolen cash, as well as various items from the shop. Mrs Cantas said: “I don’t know exactly how much money – I think it was close to £130. And he took ten Milka bars, he took energy drinks, he took my chorizo meat and he took some bags of chips.”

She added: “It’s unbelievable – and he did this all in ten minutes.”

Added to the cost of the damage done to the shop, she believes the break in will cost her about £350 in total.

Mrs Cantas said that this sum of money is quite a hit for such a small business – one that has only just opened.

She said: “This feels like a major blow.”

She added: “The first day was really hard – I cried all day.”

Despite the fact that the trader is now going to have to work 15 hours a day to keep the business afloat, she has been greatly encouraged by the level of support she has received from customers and others. 

She said: “Everyone I talk to about this has been so supportive and so upset that such a thing could happen in such a small town.” 

Mrs Cantas has also received a lot of support on social media, as CCTV footage she has posted of the break-in on Facebook has been shared more than 500 times in the hope that someone might be able to identify the thief.

She has lived in Weymouth for one-and-a-half years and “fell in love with it” when she first came to the town.

However, Mrs Cantas said that this incident has reduced “that sense of security” she had about “living in a small town” and she worries about another break-in. 

A spokesperson for Dorset Police confirmed that they received a report of a break-in at the café at around 8.45am on Thursday, June 22, and that “a quantity of cash, as well as food and drink” was taken. 

The spokesperson said: “No arrests have been made at this stage. Officers are continuing to investigate the incident.”