Immigrant cafe owner Bruno Breillet warns bigots to stay away during Ukip leader Nigel Farage's visit to Rochester High Street
Published: 00:00, 16 October 2014
Updated: 12:58, 16 October 2014
A cafe owner resorted to putting a sign in his window warning people not to be xenophobic as the Ukip bandwagon rolled into town.
Bruno Breillet, who runs Bruno's Bakes and Coffee in Rochester, stuck a sign up warning: "This shop is owned by two immigrants. Leave your bigotry at the door before you come in".
The move coincided with the arrival of the anti-EU party's three most influential people, including leader Nigel Farage.
He was on the campaign trail with former Conservative Rochester and Strood MP Mark Reckless who sparked a by-election when he defected to Ukip, and Douglas Carswell who became the party's first MP last week.
The trio drew a huge crowd of supporters who travelled to Rochester from across the country and beyond.
But Bruno, 48, who set up the High Street business a year and a half ago, said he was moved to take action after experiencing "unpleasantness" from certain visitors.
He said: "We've taken the sign down now as everything has calmed down but it was actually quite nasty on Saturday.
"There seemed to be a lot of the wrong crowd in town and people seemed to be at each other's throats. Even some other traders were exchanging words.
"There's still a funny atmosphere but it's a lot more pleasant now than it was at the weekend. We didn't want anything to do with it, which is why we put up the sign."
More by this author
KentOnline reporter