BRAZEN thieves loaded a shopping trolley full of meat, wines and spirits after breaking into a restaurant.

Douro Valley, in Furtherwick Road, on Canvey, is yet to reopen after a car veered into the front of the restaurant in early January, and have been dealt another blow following the break-in.

The Portuguese restaurant was broken into at roughly 5am on Friday morning, with nearby CCTV showing a group of men load up a shopping trolley with frozen meat, prawns and a suckling pig, as well as Portuguese wine and spirits.

Liliana Amaral, who works at the restaurant, admitted staff were absolutely devastated as they worked to recover from the incident at the turn of the year.

The driver of the car lost control of the vehicle and careered into the front of Douro Valley, and the force of the impact caused the railings alongside the road to be ripped up and flung into the shop front.

The front windows, wall and foyer of the restaurant have all been badly damaged and it is estimated that the restaurant will be closed for about a month for the repairs to be made.

Liliana said: “We really are gutted, and quite upset, to be honest with you.

“We are still waiting for repairs after the car hit the store, it has been a long wait and this only makes things worse.

“They have taken all the meat out of a freezer, all the wine and the spirits too.

“It is hard to say how much it is all worth but it is quite a lot.

“They broke one of the CCTV cameras, they pulled all the cables out and turned it around.

“They have done their monthly shop, put it in a trolley and walk down the road with it. I couldn’t believe it.”

The restaurant had celebrated three years since opening in December, and Liliana fears that much of the work to build their reputation over those three years has been damaged by the closure.

She added: “The insurance company are still getting us quotes for the repairs, so we have no clue how long we will be closed for.

“It is a huge shame, we had been doing really well.

“I think we were building our reputation quite well, we really did start at the bottom and had to build our way up.

“We were getting quite popular, and all our customers have been so supportive since the accident but this is damaging.”

Anyone with information should contact police on 101.

Or contact Crimestoppers anonymous on 0800 555111.