Business owners in Porthmadog were devastated on Monday to discover several windows in the town had been shot at with an air rifle overnight.

A number of shops and offices, and a pub have been targeted and police have been called in.

Bridget Booton, landlady of The Ship Inn, where one of the windows was shot at, said she initially thought the pub had been singled out, but heard throughout the day on Monday that a number of businesses had been attacked.

“I’ve had a look at the other places and the damage is identical,” she said.

Bridget said although the damage to her pub was upsetting, her “small window is nothing compared to the window at the ladieswear shop”.

Richards Ladieswear on High Street was also attacked and Emma Pierce, whose parents run the shop, appealed for information on social media.

She said: “It’s obviously some idiot with too much time on his/her hands, someone that has no respect for others and doesn’t care less about someone having to pay for the damage and have the hassle of dealing with fitting a new (huge) shop window!”

Describing the damage to the pub window, Bridget said: “We locked up the lounge and cleaned it quite early on Sunday night and we didn’t notice the damage until we were getting ready to re-open it at about 2pm on Monday.

“There were slithers of glass everywhere and then we saw the window and we realised what had happened.

“It looks awful, and the window will have to be sent away to be repaired as it has a criss-cross pattern, but what if this had been a person?”

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