Cake off! Cafe pair’s fury at ‘chav’ abuse
A COUPLE who set up a cake shop in a historic market town claim online bullies are trying to ruin their business by attacking their customers as ‘rats’ and ‘scantily clad maskless chavs’.
George Johnson, 43, and partner Lily Trunfull, 29, have received hundreds of poisonous comments since opening up LG Cafe in Arundel, which they have decorated with love hearts and messages such as ‘you’re yum’.
But the abuse has been ramped up in the past week with letters accusing them of attracting ‘the wrong sort of people’ to the West Sussex town, which boasts a cathedral and medieval castle, and claiming the cafe was causing ‘long queues’ with no social distancing.
‘A small, very vicious group of locals and local businesses nipped away online, and now they’ve got their teeth into it,’ said Ms Trunfull, who has gone to the police with her concerns. ‘It has made us very stressed and worried.’
Her partner said the shop was open for takeaways only in accordance with lockdown measures – like other cafes in the town – and blamed ‘old-fashioned snobbery’ from a small minority.
‘I think there’s a certain percentage that are still living in the 16th century,’ said Mr Johnson. ‘The level of hatred is quite scary. But Arundel has a massive
castle, it’s going to encourage tourists to come and things have to change
‘We’re not going anywhere. We love this beautiful town. We’ve created our lives and business here. The only way you can fight hate is with love, and that’s what we’re doing.’