Attacked shop boss's injury worry

The front window of the shop was damaged

The manager of an Exeter takeaway run by a Muslim family targeted in a firework attack says he is concerned there could be future attacks.

The shop, in Burnthouse Lane, was open when it was attacked at about 2130 BST on Tuesday by a device described as a "firework bomb".

The blast dislodged and damaged metal roof panels, cracked the main shop window and damaged an interior wall.

Police said they would not tolerate any racist incidents.

Broken tiles

No-one was hurt when the bomb, which exploded into smaller fireworks after being lit, was thrown into the premises, which had four members of staff in the rear kitchen area at the time.

The manager, who did not want to be named, said the attack had caused tension among his community, but added he was worried that people other than those targeted could be hurt.

He said: "We could be hurt, or they could be hurt.

"The firework broke tiles, so other people can be hurt, customers or kids."

Enquiries are continuing and police said they were following up a number of new leads.

Sergeant Ian Kressinger said: "Police will not tolerate any kind of hate crime or racist incidents, so clearly we are going to put in whatever resources we need to deal with it so we can bring whoever did this to justice."

Police said there appeared to be more co-operation between the constabulary and Muslim community in that more people have been reporting incidents of racist abuse and violence.