A JEWELLERY shop which was targeted by raiders in a £150,000 diamond heist has been placed into administration.

Gold and Diamonds, Furtherwick Road, Canvey, was targeted last month.

Raiders broke into Fiona’s Beauty Salon, beside the jewellers, before boring a hole through into the jewellers.

Customers are now being referred to the Official Receivers Office in Southend - an insolvency practitioners.

Shutters are down on the island shop and notice with a number for customers to call has appeared.

But customers fear they have lost their jewellery forever.

Joan Cox, 66, from Long Road, Canvey said: “We took some old rings there from my parents to have them restored.

“I don’t know if I will get these back - it’s not the owners fault but we could have had some warning about it.

“There are so many people who are talking about this on the island.

“I want back the jewellery which is mine - we didn’t take it there to be lost.

“We’ve had no contact at all about what is happening - it’s really bad.”

Barry Brockett, 44, of Eastern Esplanade, Canvey also raised serious concerns.

He said: “There should be some procedure in place - we cannot just forget it.

“We all want the right thing done - and that is a refund and our jewellery back.

“I am of course so sad to see the shop close down - there’s so much support for it and the owners.

“There has to be someone accountable for this - we’ve also spoken to other people affected by the closure.

“I’m sorry the owner lost a business but we’ve lost jewellery, and it feels bad too.”

The Echo contacted owner Harry Awidikian as well as the administrators yesterday but no response was received by the time we went to press.

A great deal of support and anger has been shared on social media, after the sudden closure.

The crooks smashed their way into Fiona’s Beauty Salon in the road and bored holes in the wall to access the jewellers.

Detectives are continuing to appeal for information after jewellery, diamonds and precious gems were taken from the shop.

At the time, Mr Awidikian, 52, owner of Gold and Diamonds, apologised to his customers.

The salon shared dramatic pictures of the scene following the incident.

A note on the door states, the business is closed and for queries call 01702 602570.