Why has this quiet Tesco Express in London been crashed into four times?

Caption: Why do cars keep driving into this Tesco?

A quiet local Tesco in east London has been rammed into four times in just three weeks.

The doors and surrounding walls to the shop on Stratford High Street have been crashed down, boarded up, and then crashed down again as it attempts to stay open.

The store sits bottom corner of a relatively new block of flats called Opal Court, surrounded by a wide pavement and a set of stairs, with multiple lamp posts, trees and traffic lights guarding the pedestrian area.

‘I walk past this Tesco about four times a day, and let me tell you, it’s impossible this was just an accident,’ local resident Harry told Metro.

‘The way the shop is on a corner, a car would have had to have back up 90 degrees and then put their foot on the pedal to crash through the doors.’

Bollards have now been erected outside the Tesco in the hopes they could protect the building from any further rammings.

But why has this happened in the first place?

A red van drove through the doors after they were boarded up from the previous crash (Picture: DifferentDiamond4525/Reddit)

Four incidents in three weeks

The first incident happened around 3am on August 22, with the car going through the doors of the shop before being promptly abandoned.

Everyone agreed it was most likely a one-off but one week later, at midnight, another car crashed through, taking down the nearby bricks.

And on Tuesday September 9, it happened again, with locals again waking up to seeing a car sticking out of the front doors.

Not 24 hours later on September 10, another crash was heard in the early hours of the morning.

Another abandoned car which crashed through the doors being towed away (Picture: DifferentDiamond4525/Reddit) Bollards have since been erected to try and stop the crashes (Picture: DifferentDiamond4525/Reddit)

It did not take much guessing from residents to figure out what it was.

Jasmyn, 28, told Metro: ‘My flat looks right down onto it and I could see where the wall has come down.

‘The first time it happened we all thought it was an accident, but now it keeps happening it definitely feels targeted.’

Grocery store turf war? Or something more?

Theories are spreading about what could possibly be happening, with Jasmyn adding someone from her building claimed they ‘saw the perpetrator try to set the car on fire’.

Rumours of a grocery store turf war has been spreading online, but this feels ‘more than unlikely,’ ex-Met detective Mike Neville said.

Mike, who spent years of career based in the area, told Metro: ‘If you wanted to stop a shop from opening, you would just burn it down. And what shopkeeper has four different cars they are willing to crash and abandon?

The scene left behind one of the crashes (Picture: DifferentDiamond4525/Reddit)

‘There is something they want from that store they can’t get anywhere else. My guess would be incriminating CCTV footage, or something kept in the back only they know about.’

Metro has contacted Tesco and Notting Hill Genesis who manages the block of flats for comment.

The Metropolitan Police said: ‘Officers are investigating a series of potentially linked incidents of criminal damage at a shop on High Street, Stratford.

‘In four incidents a vehicle had been driven into the store, causing damage to the front of the shop. This occurred on Friday, 22 August at 03:11hrs, Friday, 29 August at 00:39hrs, Tuesday, 9 September at 04:41hrs and Wednesday, 10 September at 02:50hrs.

‘There have been no reported injuries. At this stage no arrests have been. Enquiries are ongoing.’

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