TRADERS are demanding that security is stepped up in a town after vandals attacked shops and businesses.

A number of shops in Willington High Street have had windows smashed or graffiti daubed across their walls in the latest attacks.

Several shops in the town are boarded up, while others have had to spend hundreds of pounds on new windows.

Karen Lee, of Willington Sewing Centre, paid £2,700 to replace a large window cracked earlier this month.

"We dread every weekend coming around," she said. "We need more police power on the streets. They know it is happening. It is happening all the time."

Nearby B. Safe Driver Training has taken the step of erecting steel shutters at the cost of about £1,000 after three broken windows in a year.

Director Ronnie Kell said: "It's just beyond a joke. It would be nice if it was possible to have something like cameras.

"There should be some more security.

"We have had to take steps to make our premises more secure and deter potential thieves."

A meeting has been held between traders, councillors and police to discuss what can be done about the vandalism, which has also affected the town's park and Willington AFC's Hall Lane ground in recent months.

County councillor Brian Myers, chairman of Willington Community Partnership, said that the vandalism was having a negative effect on the town.

He said: "People aren't going to come to a town, either to live or to open a business, when half the shops are boarded up.

"Some of the shops have had their windows boarded up so many times, they have difficulty in getting insurance."

Police said that, since the latest wave of attacks, they had launched a new initiative called Operation Prammel and had already made a handful of arrests as well as holding a number of stop searches.

Sergeant Steve Donnelly, of Crook police, said: "It's a culmination of high visibility policing to provide public reassurance and other less visible police activities designed to identify the culprits."

Another meeting to discuss the vandalism is due to be held at Willington Working Men's Club in September.