An anxious shop owner fears her town has been "abandoned" by police - with its stores losing an estimated £1m worth of stock in recent years.

Businesswoman Emma Pinfold says the lack of police presence in Tenterden leaves retail outlets vulnerable to break-ins – and officers need more resources to protect residents.

Ms Pinfold's High Street shop Bond Street to Your Street has become a regular target for break-ins and shoplifting.

“I’ve been targeted for tens of thousands, if not over £100,000 in stock in the last two years. At the moment, we are averaging one break-in every six months,” she told KentOnline.

“Then in terms of shoplifting, we are talking almost monthly.

“Then, when you factor in the other shops that have been hit – I know one of the antique stores was targeted recently, and then there was the jewellery robbery almost this time last year – you’re probably looking at over a million in the last two years.”

White’s Jeweller’s was targeted at closing time last November by ram-raiders who sprayed staff with fire extinguishers before taking stock worth hundreds of thousands of pounds, according to owner Geoff Moss.

Ms Pinfold says “every break-in costs more than money”, and that the lack of quick police attendance at the scene leaves her feeling “abandoned”.

“With this last burglary, I couldn’t have done any more. I did everything I was advised to do by the police and my insurance company, and they [the burglars] still made off with £30,000 in stock,” she said.

“They were in here for three-and-a-half minutes, which is a long time with alarms going off.

“It is incredibly hard to carry on with these things continuing to happen. They are hard monetarily, but also physically and emotionally.”

One man has been arrested in connection with the most recent raid on November 8, while two more are due to be sentenced after pleading guilty to a separate break-in in June 2021.

A horrifying incident in February of this year saw a man assault a member of staff after being confronted with a stolen handbag in his backpack.

Ms Pinfold said: “I would really like to see more support from police. There’s obviously a resourcing issue in the town, as there isn’t a police presence.

“I am absolutely not here to say the police are not doing a good job because all of the officers I have dealt with have been lovely – but there are simply not enough of them.

“It is clearly a resource issue and that should be dealt with at a much higher level.

"Something really needs to be done about it.”

In response, Det Insp Simon Johnson from the Ashford community safety unit said: “We understand that every single report of a burglary can leave not just the victim feeling anxious but the wider community too, which is why officers will always look to provide victim and community support where appropriate and explore all available lines of enquiry to take action against those responsible.

“Tenterden remains a safe town that all residents and visitors can enjoy.

“To ensure that remains the case, our officers conduct frequent patrols of the area, providing crime prevention advice and when offences are committed they act quickly to pursue justice and protect victims.

“We will not tolerate offenders causing misery for innocent victims, including retail staff.”