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Villagers' shock at 'spate' of car break-ins

George Carden
BBC News, Cuckfield
Supplied A Volkswagen Polo with its rear window smashed. The glass is cracked with two large holes on either side of the rear window of the black car which is parked in a drivewaySupplied
Villagers in Cuckfield, West Sussex, have been subjected to several vehicle break ins over the last two weeks

Residents of a West Sussex village say they fear waking up to their car windows being smashed after a flurry of break-ins.

There have been eight reports to police of smashed windows in the last 16 days in Cuckfield.

Some villagers have carried out resident patrols at the weekend to make sure more vehicles are not being targeted.

Sussex Police said they have ramped up patrols in the area, and have deployed plain-clothed officers to track down the vandals.

Resident Deena Sammakia said her car was targeted on Wednesday.

She told BBC Radio Sussex: "I had such a panic, it's really shocking and something we would never expect to happen in a safe village like Cuckfield.

"My partner looked around and saw there were three other cars on our road with smashed windows."

Four reports of smashed windows were made to police on 13 April, one was made on 21 April and three on 23 April.

There have been eight reported incidents in the last 16 days in Cuckfield

Sussex Police is investigating 33 reports of cars and vans being broken into in the last month across the Mid Sussex district.

One woman, who asked not to be named, also had her car window smashed on 23 April.

She said: "A friend told me my rear window had been smashed. It's unnerving and it's infuriating because I had to lose a day's wages to pay for the damage."

A cafe worker, who also asked not to be named, said: "It's very frustrating. You wake up every morning wondering whether you're going to have a car that has three windows rather than four."

'Stealing items'

Another business owner said he had heard of only two previous break-ins in the six years he had lived locally.

"To hear about this spate of vandalism in a short space of time is worrying," he added.

Insp Dave Derrick said: "We are actively making inquiries and viewing doorbell cameras and CCTV to try to identify those targeting vehicles, with a view to stealing items within.

"As well as targeted patrols in the area, response teams are assisting by conducting plain-clothes activity in an effort to disrupt the offenders."

Anyone with information can contact Sussex Police quoting CAD 0574 of 25/04.

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