A TURKISH-STYLE barbershop suffered a "devastating" setback when it was targeted by vandals the night before it opened.

Police are now investigating the £680-worth of damage to Kaz's Barbers' front window which is believed to have been caused by a brick. 

Mariwan Sofi, 23, and Mohammed Mo, 21, had been cleaning the Lowther Street shop and making final preparations to open on Friday (29 January) until 10pm on Thursday.

But after three weeks of preparation, the barbers came to open on Friday morning to see the front window caved in.

"It was devastating to see and I was really angry," said Mr Sofi. "I was with my girlfriend the night before we opened and I was telling her about how excited I was to finally open the shop. 

"But when I came in and saw this, I couldn't believe it. It was a really bad way to start the business. It's scary because you don't know why somebody would do this. 

"Maybe it's kids or drunk people, you just don't know. People have told us that it's a really strange thing to happen around here."

The pair worked with their friends in a barbers of the same name in Carlisle, but they were looking to open another shop and saw Whitehaven as a good opportunity to expand.

The men, who commute from Carlisle everyday, have been plying their trade for more than five years and are looking to move to Whitehaven to be close to their new business.

"We just wanted to do something good for the people of Whitehaven and this wasn't a good start," said Mr Sofi. "But hopefully the police can figure out who did it."

Police are now examining nearby CCTV footage and are appealing for witnesses. The damage is believed to have been caused between 12-5am on Friday.

Mr Sofi said that the business has had to fork out £600 to cover the cost of the window replacement and £80 for a new sign because he had not got around to sorting out the insurance yet.

Anybody with information should call Cumbria Police on 101.