OWNERS of a restaurant within the city believe they are being targeted as their premises was broken into three times over the course of 49 days. 

Byblos Cafe, which provides authentic Lebanese food for the city, was forced to suspend its takeaway service after losing £1000 in damages as a result of the separate breaks ins. 

Joe Bilan, who is the owners' son, told the Glasgow Times: "After the coronavirus outbreak, my Mum decided to close the front of house and only do takeaways and deliveries as she didn't want to take or cause any risks. She has been by herself every day cooking the meals. 

“In the first break-in, the front door was smashed and a number of valuable items were stolen including the till. 

"The CCTV footage shows the thief trying to open the till to steal money but couldn’t get in, so they just took the whole till.

“As they were leaving, they tried to steal our Uber Eats iPad but couldn’t because it was attached to a leg in the wall… so instead, they just smashed it.

“Around a week later, my Mum shut the shop at 9.05pm and the thieves broke in at 9.10pm so they were obviously waiting for her to leave.

“They smashed through the front door that had just been fixed.

“After that, two people came in a week later with bags and took their time. They stole every one of our UberEats, JustEat and Deliveroo iPads.

“What makes it worse is seeing my family members devastated by it all.

The financial impact has been "massive" on the business, as the eatery relied on its iPads and tablets for orders and deliveries to be arranged via Just Eat, Deliveroo and Uber Eats. 

Joe added: "The financial impact has been massive and my Dad is currently stuck in Lebanon. We’ve been going through some really difficult times.

“We’ve felt as though we’ve become a personal target because of the amount of times it has happened.”

Members of the family have thrown personal funds into the business to help keep it afloat but are hoping to raise £1000 to install shutters for the premises' windows and door.

Joe said: "We've set up a fundraiser to try to replace the iPads and tablets that were stolen so as we can continue business, but our main concern is installing shutters.

"My Mum is worried about going back into the shop in case the next time it happens they will attack her and nobody can do anything.

"I think the shutters cost around £400 without installation. It would give us a peace of mind.

"We’ve been open for eight years and nothing has happened until now. 

"In the space of just over 40 days we’ve lost so much money.

"We’re a small, family run business and we just can’t sustain that. For sure, it’s already breaking us."

A police spokesman said: "Police Scotland can confirm that reports were received relating to two sperate break-ins at premises on Park Road in Glasgow on Saturday, 15 February and Friday, 20 March.

"Enquiries are ongoing into both incidents and officers are keeping an open mind whether they are linked.

"Police also received a report of a theft of a charity tin from within the premises on Park Road on Thursday, 4 April.

"Enquiries into the incident are ongoing."

The family's online fundraiser can be viewed here.