SHOPKEEPERS in an East Lancashire town fear they are losing the battle against crime because they don't have enough cash for town centre security.

A recent spate of smash and grab and ram raids in Rawtenstall has shown its vulnerability.

Police warned two weeks ago that gangs from Bury, Salford and North Manchester were targeting the Valley because the M66 made a rapid getaway easy.

And small towns did not have the sophisticated security systems installed in places like Burnley, Blackburn and Bolton.

Anxious shopkeepers are desperately trying to turn Bank Street, Rawtenstall's main shopping area, into Fortress Rossendale to keep the villains at bay.

Owners of Together ladies and childrenswear, the latest victim of a smash and grab raid, are spending thousands of pounds on internal shutters and other measures.

But Glenda Wild, owner of the childrenswear section, Beez Neez, said: "We feel it doesn't matter what preventative measures you take. Burglars will get you. Once they came through our ceiling!"

At Remy menswear, ram-raided earlier in the month, owner David Beardsworth is installing bollards inside the shop window. The shop already had internal shutters but these were no match for a gang who reversed a Ford Fiesta up a hill and straight through the window.

Rossendale Council is against bulky external shutters because they blot out light and turn the town into a ghetto at night.

It prefers internal shutters or open-grille external shutters.

They say Rawtenstall pavements are too narrow for bollards in front of shop windows because they would cause a hazard for blind and disabled people.

Pedestrianising Bank Street has been ruled out because none of the shops has rear access and space would still have to be left for emergency vehicles and delivery vans.

One shop installs bollards outside its window every evening. Another has a sophisticated smoke device which fills the shop within 30 seconds of a break-in.

Rossendale Police Crime Prevention Officer Sergeant Simon Wilson said the best measures were those which slowed thieves. "Something like an internal shutter, which hinders the burglar after the alarm has gone off, is the greatest deterrent."

Police are against pedestrianisation, which empties the town at night.

Said Sergeant Wilson: "One of the most tried and tested measures is to encourage people to walk along streets.

"The more eyes you have in the street, the less crime occurs."

Unlike neighbouring towns, Rawtenstall does not have major multiples to help fund the running costs.

Chamber of Commerce president Tony Winder said: "We don't have those companies and Rossendale has three town centres which further stretches our resources."

Mr Winder is currently looking at the possibility of recruiting private security guards to patrol the streets at night.

He added: "I still don't think CCTV is out of our reach. One of the possibilities I am looking at is linking our CCTV to the monitoring system in another town and sharing some of their running costs."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.