Smashing start to New Year for Ash Patel at Whanganui cafe Victoria's T 4 2

A long busy day came to a smashing end for Victoria's T 4 2 co-owner Ash Patel.

On Wednesday afternoon, Patel was closing up the Victoria Ave cafe he runs with wife Victoria Handley when a strong wind gust took him by surprise.

"It had been a really busy day and it was just Victoria and I working," Patel said.

"I just wanted to go home. About 4pm I'd packed everything away, packed the recycling in the car, put the alarm on and was about two steps away from the front door when it went 'boom' and smashed."

Patel hadn't shut the back door and the strong wind rushing through the cafe blew the heavy front door shut, smashing the glass.

"It was quite shocking," Patel said.

"It was so fast and the door just broke to pieces. It's really thick safety glass and it just smashed. That's how heavy and fast the wind was."

Patel contacted the landlord's representative and they boarded up the door. He also reported the broken door to Whanganui Police so they were aware that it was not a break-in and could check security if they were passing on patrol.

While they wait for the door to be repaired, Patel is fielding constant queries from concerned customers about whether there was a break-in at the cafe.

MetService recorded that the strongest wind gust in Whanganui on Wednesday was 61km/h at 4pm at Whanganui Airport. Wind data for Whanganui City was not recorded.

Owner Ash Patel was shocked when a strong wind gust blew through Victoria's T 4 2 cafe and smashed the front door.