A SUSPECT in a raid at a pet food shop in Evesham and other burglaries has now been arrested.

We have previously reported how burglars smashed their way into The Pet Food Shop in Evesham overnight on Monday April 9 and into the early hours of the following day.

Overall £50 was taken from the shop till, prompting owner Sam Boutler to say ‘crime is getting worse in Evesham’. However, police say burglary is in fact falling in the town and that they take such offences extremely seriously.

Sgt Alex Denney said: “Burglaries of a residence or someone’s business are treated very seriously by ourselves. These offences have an incredibly damaging effect on the victims.

“In fact, detectives from the South Worcestershire Integrated Offender Management team and I also attended this report to assist our colleagues from Evesham patrol as the modus operandi of the offence put a suspect in our mind. My team assisted with the initial enquiries and I spoke with the store owner.

"The suspect was arrested by my team the following day for other matters and is now in prison for a period. We will be visiting this offender prior to release and he will be interviewed for the Pet Food Store offence and some other matters, including the burglary that occurred that same night as mentioned in the article.

"I would point out that there have been no similar offences in the locality since the arrest.

"Despite these offences overall figures of Burglary are lower than in previous years and it remains that the odds of becoming a victim of burglary remain low.

"Following any offence of burglary West Mercia Police specialist, Design Out Crime Officers attend and conduct a free crime prevention survey, making sensible recommendations to reduce the likelihood of re-victimisation. This expert advice and assessment is provided free of charge. We also attend the neighbours of these crimes and offer further assistance to these locations as well."

Sgt Denny urged people to log onto the West Mercia Police website for crime prevention advice and to contact the Safer Neighbourhood Teams directly to discuss crime prevention measures with their local officers directly.

He added: "We remain absolutely committed to identifying those who are responsible for these dreadful offences and I would like to remind people to report any suspicious behaviour to us via 101."

If any person has any information that they feel would assist they can do this anonymously via www.Crimestoppers-uk.org or via telephone on 0800 555 111.