A shop owner has called for action after her clothes store was targeted during a town centre vandalism spree.

The windows of Maison Classique Emporium and Demelza Hospice Care for Children in William Street, Herne Bay, were damaged recently.

Linda Cameron, the owner of the former, was in bed above the shop when the incident happened.

She said: “There was lots of noise up and down the road. When I looked there was a crowd of youths.

“They disappeared so I went to bed, but then I heard an almighty crash. I was in shock – I thought somebody had kicked my front door in and had entered my home.

“It was so loud and reverberated so much – it was really frightening.”

Ms Cameron raced downstairs to find the shop’s display window, which faces onto William Street, had been smashed.

Having found no evidence to suggest otherwise, she believes it had been kicked.

“The window is spider-webbed from the corner, where it was kicked, to the top of the window,” she said.

“I’m going to have to replace the window and the clothes next to it because they’re all covered in splinters.

“I’m waiting for my insurers to get back to me, but I would think it would cost £1,500 for the window.”

Ms Cameron says several people witnessed the incident.

According to them, one of the vandals ran towards the seafront, while the other headed towards the High Street.

They are both said to be boys, with one wearing a torn white t-shirt while the other was topless.

Ms Cameron says it is the first time in her nine years in William Street that her shop has been vandalised.

“There are lots and lots of small businesses and independent traders in the town and this is just another nail in the coffin for us,” she added.

“It will make people want to come here less and send insurance prices up. I don’t know what I could do to prevent this from happening again.

“If you look at Herne Bay Chatter, stupid people are saying we just have to accept this, but we don’t. It does happen, but this is criminal damage and something’s got to be done.”

Sue Smy, the manager of the Demelza shop, found out her store had been vandalised when she arrived for work on Monday morning.

“Our window panes are really big - probably 8 ft by 8 ft - and it’s shattered from one side to the other,” she said.

“Hopefully the insurance will cover it, otherwise it’s going to cost us an awful lot of money.

“I don’t know if we were targeted, I just think we were unlucky.”

Police enquiries into the incident are ongoing.

Anyone with information about the damage is asked to call 01843 222289, quoting the reference number 19-1552.