ANGRY traders are calling out for heightened security measures after a spate of attempted burglaries in Malvern.

Traders in Barnards Green are lobbying for more protection from crime after would-be thieves attempted to break into three businesses - Cold Chef, Natural Choice and Barnards Green Optician - sometime between Friday night (July 25) and Monday morning.

Back in April, Barnards Green was targeted by would-be robbers wearing balaclavas who attempted to rip a cash point machine out of the ground using a cable attached to a van.

And frustrated traders say they are a frequent target for crime - particularly since a CCTV camera that used to monitor the area was removed.

Phil Saville, manager of Natural Choice, said: "I came in Monday to find my front windows smashed.

"They also damaged the back door as they tried to force entry through there.

"With the excess being so high, it's not viable going through insurance, so the windows had to be replaced with money coming out of the budget, which we do not need as we are an independent business.

"It's very frustrating and annoying that this happens, and it seems to be happening more regularly. We need more security here in this area to protect the traders."

After being contacted by the Gazette, Malvern Hills District Council has already said it will take steps to beef up CCTV coverage in Barnards Green.

Gordon Morris, the council's street scene manager, said: “We installed two CCTV cameras in Barnards Green in December 2013, one of which was taken out to be used in another location involving anti-social behaviour.

"We will be installing another camera in the next week, which will be set to view up and down all of Barnards Green Road.

"We only have a very limited amount of portable CCTV cameras and these are moved around the whole of the district where there might be anti-social hot spots.”

Andrew Brookes, owner of The Cheeseboard and an independent trader in Barnards Green for more than 30 years, hopes it will prove a deterrent.

"This seems to happen in repeat attacks, in spates," he said. "This area was hit in a similar vein around 12 months ago.

"Unfortunately there will always be people who do things like this, but the best way to tackle it is to have deterrents in the area, the best thing we can do is protect ourselves.

"We need more CCTV."

Police are investigating the attenpted burglaries and anyone with information should call 101, quoting incident 147s of July 28 for the Cold Chef incident or 85s of July 28 for the incidents at Barnards Green Optician and Natural Choice.