'It's been insane!' - Telford bakery praises 'incredible' support following honesty box theft

Baker Sophie Weeks launched an appeal last week after her Geeky Desserts business was the victim of an alleged theft of around £50 worth of cakes and sweets from an honesty box on the side of the road.

Last month, she opened her eye-catching bright pink shed on Arran Way in Muxton, Telford, packed full of bread, bakes and cheesecakes - as well as homemade marmalades, jams and curds.  

Just two weeks after launching her distinctive "micro-bakery", camera footage from the incident appeared to show two boys making off with bags full of products - which had not been paid for.

But she says the response from the public since the incident has been "incredible", and after the business sold out of its supply of tasty treats over the weekend, Ms Weeks thanked her customers for their support in the wake of the alleged theft.

"It's been insane. When we started I never thought it would turn out like this! I was expecting maybe ten people a day and now I sell out over a weekend, it's been absolutely amazing," she said.

"Obviously the response to what happened last week has been absolutely wonderful - people have just got behind me, we've been getting messages from people who saw the appeal in the Shropshire Star and said they'd come by to support us now they knew where we were, it's been amazing."

Since the alleged theft, the business has kitted out the honesty box with cameras to avoid a repeat incident, but she says people are still getting used to the idea.

"I had someone pay with euros, and luckily we were coming home as they were paying! Unfortunately I've just come back from holiday so I told them euros were no good for me... He did pay in cash and said sorry."

Former lorry driver Sophie, 25, started the business around a year ago, eventually swapping her shifts behind the wheel of an HGV for long hours in front of a hot oven. She started out working in her spare time, selling to local shops and businesses, before quitting her full-time job in March to focus on food. 

Now, she says she eventually hopes to open a full-sized bakery in the wake of her success - providing the cake dough keeps rolling in.

"The job I had was long hours so I'd go to work all day, I'd come home and I'd bake and have an hour's sleep and I just thought 'I can't keep doing that.'" she said.

"I really want to own my own bakery one day but I've got to do some saving up for that! 

"I'm hoping this will get me towards that dream. Hopefully it won't be too far away in the future, we'll just keep doing what we're doing and we'll see where we are in a year or two."