UPWELL: Mystery of the JCB Digger than ran into Margaret's fruit and veg shop

THE owner of a village shop hopes her three years' hard work have not been in vain after a JCB digger ran into the front of the store, causing substantial damage.

Margaret Hodgson, owner of Margaret's Fruits, Vegetables and Flowers in Upwell, arrived at work on Tuesday morning less than five minutes after the digger ran into with the Town Street store.

Mrs Hodgson said: "I only live in Outwell and left home just after 7.20am and when I got here I saw this hole in the wall outside.

"I just don't know whether I will be able to still trade when repair work is started. It depends on how big of a job it will be.

"If the shop is closed for any length of time I will lose custom that has taken me nearly three years to build up - and it is always harder to get the trade back.

"I have got very good support from the villagers and they appreciate having something like this in the village."

The incident happened at about 7.20am and was caught on CCTV.

Mrs Hodgson said it shows a man parking a car outside the store and standing on the footpath, moments before the digger arrives and hit with the front of the building.

The two men then swapped vehicles and fled the scene.

A woman who witnessed the collision dropped into the store and gave Mrs Hodgson the digger's registration number, which has been passed to police.

Mrs Hodgson said: "As far as I am concerned there is nobody who has any grievances against us. I sincerely hope it does not involve anything like that."

Police were unable to shed any further light on the digger or driver.

n Two mechanical diggers stolen from a building site at the weekend have been found miles apart in Norfolk and Cambridgeshire.

The vehicles were taken from Lakenheath between 5pm on Friday and 7am Monday. One was found in Welney, and the other in Littleport.