A market town has suffered a spate of break-ins during the past few days, leading one shop owner to tighten his security after being targeted twice.

Police in Northallerton have been questioning suspects after eight incidents were reported since Wednesday morning.

But they still need to trace a group of men said to have escaped in a stolen vehicle after costing a local newsagents thousands of pounds.

The town was worst hit on Tuesday night, with break-ins at a storage building and a high-street shop and attempted break-ins at Somerfields supermarket and a town pub.

Thieves who targeted Martins newsagents escaped with more than £2,000-worth of cigarettes and caused damage to windows and a kiosk.

Detective Sergeant Peter Walker, of Northallerton CID, said that several incidents also occurred in Stokesley that night.

"The time was relative and so they could have been done by the same people," he said.

"By using the closed-circuit television system in both towns we were able to progress in our inquiries and link these crimes with one in Middlesbrough.

"At the moment, there are a number of people in custody and North Yorkshire Police officers are travelling to the area to interview these persons in relation to the crime."

About 24 hours after these people were taken into custody, Martin's was targeted for a second time.

Early yesterday, a group of youths was seen running away from the premises. They got into a green Audi A3, which police yesterday confirmed was stolen from the Bradford area.

The thieves broke in through the window of the door and took thousands of pounds worth of cigarettes.

Store manager Nev Enderwick said: "It is the last thing you expect to happen in a place like Northallerton. But we are an easy target here, really. Because we are a close-knit community, people are complacent.

"Just look around - how many shops have shutters? None. We will be increasing our security now."

A garage forecourt in Richmond was also targeted by thieves yesterday.

Intruders broke a window of the kiosk at Petch's, in Victoria Road, and escaped with cigarettes during the early hours.

Anyone with information about any of the crimes is asked to call Northallerton CID on (01609) 789789.