PRICKWILLOW villagers have organised a public meeting to discuss a spate of break-ins in the village. Thieves have targeted homes and stolen thousands of pounds worth of property. Now some residents are so frightened of the culprits returning that they ar

PRICKWILLOW villagers have organised a public meeting to discuss a spate of break-ins in the village.

Thieves have targeted homes and stolen thousands of pounds worth of property. Now some residents are so frightened of the culprits returning that they are thinking of moving out of the area.

One family lost £800-worth of power tools from an outbuilding, while a resident who has been burgled twice is so traumatised he is receiving medical treatment.

Vandals have also targeted the village hall causing almost £1,000 of damage in the past year.

The meeting will take place on September 12 and villagers have invited South East Cambridgeshire MP Jim Paice, Cambridgeshire police chief constable Julie Spence and Ely mayor Cllr John Ison to attend.

Villager and former Ely City councillor Tony Pearson, who edits the village newsletter The Messenger, told residents: "So strong are local feelings on this that I can foresee a time in the not too distant future when, in the same way that factories and offices in Ely have for quite some time been forced to employ private security services to protect their premises at night, rural communities will be forced to organise their own groups to protect their property.

"For some reason the scum of the earth have decided to target us. Maybe we're soft touches. Please do anything you can to help root out these social cancers that are trying to destroy our quality of life in this village."

The meeting will take place at Prickwillow Village Hall, starting at 8pm.