Over the last six months nearly thirty small businesses and clubs have been targeted by burglars in and around the Falmouth area.

Police in the town are advising business owners to be security conscious and vigilant following  the spate and say high profile police patrols have been increased in the affected areas.

Officers at Falmouth are asking for the public’s support in helping the extra police patrols by implementing preventative measures.

Sergeant Martin Roberts from Falmouth police station is requesting all small businesses and retailers to review their current security measures in order to reduce the risk of becoming a victim of crime.

He advises that if you need to leave cash on the premises, place it in a safe, which cannot be removed. Any potential housing of monies such as tills or gaming machines, which can be seen from outside, should be emptied at the end of the day and banked where possible.

All tools should be kept in a secure location, ladders secured if possible, and a check of the outside grounds to be carried out regularly to ensure there are not any items left lying around that could be used as a way of forcing entry or to damage external security systems. Businesses also need to closely inspect their CCTV systems to ensure they are adequate and secure.

The activation of an alarm should be reported to the police immediately, and please make a note of any suspicious behaviour you witness day or night. You never know when it could be important.

DS Trott from Falmouth CID, who is leading the investigation said: ”Whilst this is a particularly rare occurrence in Falmouth and the town is still a safe place to live, it would be wrong for the police not to inform the public about what has been occurring.

I would therefore ask, that if anyone sees anything suspicious or if businesses or clubs have customers or visitors who appear to be paying particular attention to the premises, then please report this to the police as soon as possible. Any information, no matter how small may just add the missing link which will then greatly assist our investigations into the current series of burglaries”.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact the police on 101 quoting police reference GP/14/818 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111 or report online at www.Crimestoppers-uk.org