The closure of Brent Street's police station is being linked by Hendon traders to a spate of recent burglaries.

In weeks, three buildings in Parson Street and one in Finchley Road have been targeted by burglars. Each time computer equipment was taken.

"It's like open season around here," said Peter Raivid of Compuchange in Parson Street. "It's blatant. The burglars smashed the front door at 8.30pm, ran in and ran out.

"You don't get the police on the beat anymore. To break into a place like this at that time is cheeky. It's so strange that we've had a spate of break-ins along this road in a short space of time since the station closed.

"How is it helping the community to centralise everything and what can we do about it? We're in their hands. They're supposed to be here to protect but they're not."

But a police spokeswoman from Colindale station said crime in the area was generally lower than when the police station was running.

She said Brent Street and surrounding areas has recently experienced a rise in the crime rate which had fallen on the adoption of the new policing strategies. This rise, she said, was attributed to the increase in commercial burglaries and police would be monitoring the situation and responding accordingly.

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