Bristol shop bans children after racist attacks

A Bristol shopkeeper has banned children from her store after teenagers hurled racist abuse at her and smashed her windows when she refused to serve them alcohol.

Panna Patel, who runs the Patco Premier store in Frampton Cotterell, said she had suffered racist abuse for years.

This latest incident happened after she refused to allow under age children, some as young as 10, to buy alcohol.

They retaliated by threatening her, shouting racist abuse and later threw a brick through the glass in the shop door.

She previously had to suffer racist abuse after confronting children as young as 12 smoking cigarettes in her shop.

The mother-of-three, aged 49, who has been running the shop for eight years, refuses to be driven out of the village where she lives.

Instead, she has put up a notice banning anyone under the age of 18 from going inside the shop after 6pm, unless they are with their parents.

She told the Evening Post: "Why do children think they have a right to be served alcohol? It is my shop and I will serve who I chose.

"I will not serve alcohol or cigarettes to anyone under age or to anyone who I think is going to pass on alcohol or cigarettes to younger children. That is the law.

"I will also not stand anymore racist abuse."

She said she had lost count of the number of times she'd been called a racist name.

"In any case I'm from India, not Pakistan. They can't even get that right," she added.

"This is my livelihood and I will not let them ruin it. Gangs of children regularly hang around outside and the police do nothing.

"I have had enough and from now on no children will be allowed in after 6pm, unless they're with their parents."

This latest attack happened on Sunday evening when she refused to serve a gang of 10 youngsters, aged between 10 and 15.

Mrs Patel has the support of the Bristol-based organisation Support Against Racist Incidents (Sari), which has pledged to push the police to take tougher action against the youths.

Director Batook Pandya said: "This is 2008, not the Fifties.

"Mrs Patel is being victimised because of the colour of her skin.

"It's not a coincidence that Mrs Patel is the only shopkeeper in that area who is being targeted in this way.

"The parents of these children need to take responsibility for their kids.

"I shall be taking this up with the police – they need to do more to put an end to this violent abuse which has been allowed to go on for too long."

Police officials said they did take the incident seriously.

Spokesman Steve Game said: "We received a report of criminal damage where a brick was thrown through a window.

"We attended the address near Bristol and photographed the damage and a hate crime officer has been to the store and has spoken to the shopkeeper."