‘It’s a kick in the teeth’ – Seaham Chippy manager who provides free meals for struggling families has money stolen while she was at work

Police received reports of a burglary at Seaham Chippy on South Railway Street at around 9pm on Tuesday, March 2.

It is understood that a man has entered the rear of the property and took cash and medication from Michelle Gray’s purse, who is the manager of the chip shop.

The burglary comes just weeks after the business had set up a scheme which is providing free hot meals to individuals and families who are struggling to provide for themselves.

Michelle, who set the scheme up after she spotted a social media post from a woman saying she had gone hungry for days, has described the latest incident as a “kick in the teeth”.

She said: “The money that was in my purse wasn’t even for it, there was charity money for food parcels and then some that I had set aside for my daughter’s birthday.

"Life is tough at the moment, everyone is struggling and it’s money that I can’t replace or won’t get back now.

"I’ve gone without so my daughter can have a nice birthday, one that she deserves and now it will be harder for me to give her that.

"If they were in that much need, they could have just spoken to me and I would have helped them in anyway that I could, it’s a kick in the teeth.

"Some people have no shame, no morals, no respect and no thought of other people.”

Durham Constabulary have confirmed that they are investigating the incident and have released a description of the suspect.

A spokesperson for the force commented: “We were called to reports of a burglary at Seaham Chippy, in South Railway Street, Seaham, at around 9pm last night (March 2).

“A man is believed to have entered the rear of the property through an insecure door and took cash and medication from a staff member’s purse.

“The suspect is believed to have been wearing a black coat, trainers, jogger bottoms and a baseball cap. Enquiries are ongoing.

“If you have any information, call 101 with incident reference number 402 of March 2.”

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