Police probe into Blue Bear Coffee's missing parcels ongoing

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https://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/news/26 ... s-ongoing/

An investigation into missing parcel contents from a Norwich coffee shop remains ongoing.

Police confirmed no arrests have been made as enquiries continue into two reports of missing deliveries linked to Blue Bear Coffee Co.

The incidents involved hundreds of pounds' worth of coffee beans, with the shop owner claiming it is the latest in a series of losses since the business opened in 2023.

In September, owner Bryn Frere-Smith handed over a package filled with 10kg worth of coffee beans with a value of £340 to his postman set for delivery to London.

Two days later, the package was returned to the Tombland shop with the coffee beans missing and in their place was a sample of wood panelling.

A similar incident occurred in April when coffee beans worth £162 went missing from the box it was meant to be delivered in.

A few days later, the empty box was returned to the coffee shop, which uses its profits to support anti-trafficking shelters in the Dominican Republic and Uganda.

Mr Frere-Smith explained how September's incident is the "seventh consignment of coffee" that has gone missing over the last three years.

The former police officer said: "It means thousands of pounds comes off our balance sheets that could have otherwise gone to the protection and equipping of young people who've had a really bad start to life."

Meanwhile, the Royal Mail says it has concluded its own investigation and pins the missing contents down to parcel damage.

A Royal Mail spokesperson said: "We have completed our investigation into the parcels raised by the customer. The evidence we found suggests the packaging was damaged as the parcels moved through our network, causing some of the contents to fall out.

"We have offered to visit the customer to look at the packaging being used and provide advice on how it could be made stronger to help prevent this happening again."