New Milton business owners take 'vigilante' action after town centre crimewave
SHOP owners in New Milton are carrying out vigilante night patrols after a massive crimewave hit the high street.
Following a perceived lack of action by police to multiple break-ins in recent weeks, business owners have taken matters into their own hands in an attempt to catch the culprits.
Burglars have targeted a raft of businesses, including several charity shops, and traders say they feel like "sitting ducks",
Some are reportedly staying on in their premises well into the evening through fear they will be targeted next.
Outlets hit include Robert Alan Jewellers, both branches of McColl’s, LSB Electrical, Plumbing and Heating, Artaze Hair, and charity shops Oxfam, HOPe, Mencap and New Forest Disability Information Service.
Raiders also tried to smashed their way into New Milton railway station’s ticket office on Tuesday night, just days after another failed attempt.
While some of the victims reported a police response, others complained of no attendance at all.
One as-yet-untargeted trader, who wanted to remain anonymous, told the A&T she was among several in the town carrying out “vigilante” night patrols.
Hitting out at the police response, she said: “Even all the public are gobsmacked at how this is being treated. I mean, what do you pay your taxes for? We seem to be doing the police’s job for them.
“If only they could put a police officer out in a patrol car at night. It can’t take very much to do that.”
Hampshire Constabulary has said resources were not always available to respond to incidents, which are prioritised based on perceived threat or harm.
Oxfam manager Rosemary Hancock told the A&T she was angry that police had failed to attend after burglars stole a safe containing £700 in takings in the early hours of last Tuesday morning.
“Now I feel indignant because there’s been an escalation and build-up of all these break-ins and no one’s doing anything,” she told the A&T.
“I'm gutted about the money stolen, the expense of the repairs and the loss of income from two-and-a-half days' closure.
“All of this is money that will never be recuperated and not sent where it is most needed."
Tim Kerntiff, goldsmith and director of Robert Alan Jewellers in Station Road, which was hit last Thursday night, said an "unprecedented desirability of gold" was behind the theft at his store. Among the large haul stolen were unique pieces designed in-house .
A failed attempt to find a safe was believed to have been behind a break-in at the HOPe store on Saturday night, causing £500 damage to the front door.
General manager Steve Anderton hit out at officers’ “pretty poor” response, saying that after police had been told of the break-in, they phoned him but did not attend themselves.
LSB was targeted last Friday night and £500 of takings were stolen from a till. Police did not attend, but owner Liam Bailey acknowledged they were investigating other raids.
Tuesday night saw a spate of break-ins as the crimewave ramped up, with New Forest Mencap in Old Milton Road ransacked, along with New Forest Disability Information Service in Osborne Road and Artaze Hair in Gore Road.
Mencap's office administrator Stacey Kirby told the A&T that the offender who broke into her premises was disturbed after throwing a concrete slab through the back door around 8.30pm, only to later return before the building was boarded up. He managed to get away with £110 in cash.
"Our volunteers have been shaken up by this," she said. "People in the town are so worried they're staying on at their businesses in the evening. Everyone is just waiting for it to be their turn."
Around £250 of tobacco products was stolen when the McColl’s which hosts New Milton’s post office was broken into for the first time in more than 40 years of trading.
A staff member, who wanted to remain anonymous, said: “These offenders know there’s no repercussions, so it does make me angry that they’re going to get away with it and carry on.”
Disc cutters and drills were among tools snatched from Forest Decking on the Wick II Industrial Estate, off Gore Road, on Sunday night, forcing the firm to buy new equipment to avoid losing trading hours. Police attended this incident.
The glass front door of Ascend Hair in Elm Court was smashed to gain entry early on Sunday morning before raiders escaped with petty cash.
Owner Cate Abdalla told the A&T: “It was quite obvious they were looking for cash, and quick.
“My desk had been turned upside down, but luckily all the electrical equipment – Wi-Fi, phone, etc – was okay.”
Having lived in New Milton her whole life, Mrs Abdalla said she had never seen burglaries on this scale.
Although police attended on the day and sent a forensics team on Monday, she believed not enough was being done to combat the issue.
“I feel disappointed that considering how much is happening over the last few days, the police are not out at night – there’s just no police. Where are they?” she continued.
“Business owners are actually going out patrolling at night, finding the places being broken into and calling police, but they’re not doing anything."
Flip ’n’ Tails Seafood on Old Milton Green Parade was raided in the early hours of last Wednesday morning, with damage caused to property and a small amount of petty change taken. A forensics officer attended.
Bradbeers director Justyn Davies feared it was next and slammed failure to attend a break-in attempt at Forest Edge café.
“All shop owners are paying rent and it doesn’t appear that they’re getting police protection at all,” he said.
A police spokesperson said the force was "not aware" of local residents taking matters into their own hands, stressing that officers would be patrolling the town centre at various times over the coming days to "offer reassurance to the community".
New Forest district commander, Chief Inspector Nick Marsden, said: “We appreciate that this latest spree of burglaries is concerning for those living in the local community and for those businesses and organisations which have been impacted.
“Our officers are carrying out extensive enquiries in the local area to ascertain the exact circumstances of each of these incidents and seeking to obtain relevant evidential and forensic evidence to help progress their investigation.
“This latest set of incidents overnight appear to have a very similar method of operation and our officers are keeping an open mind as to whether or not these incidents are linked based on this information.
“Local officers will be carrying out extra patrols in the area over the coming days to offer reassurance to residents in the area. As always, if you have any concerns, please do speak to an officer if you see them whilst they are on patrol.
“We would urge local residents to remain vigilant and report any suspicious individuals to police by calling 101. If it is an emergency, or the crime is in progress, please dial 999 immediately.”
Responding to criticism of the force, Hampshire business crime lead Ch. Insp. Marcus Cator said resources were deployed based on demand and a “robust” threat, harm, opportunity and risk assessment.
“This might include whether the crime is in progress, if victims are at risk of immediate harm, whether the suspects are still on-scene or if there is likely to be any forensic or evidential opportunities available to officers,” he explained.
“Unfortunately, these opportunities are not always available to our officers which might account for why some victims of business burglaries may not have been seen by one of our officers at the time of the reported incident.”
Ch. Insp. Cator maintained neighbourhood policing teams look for patterns or links, emphasising the importance of local intelligence.
