THERE has been a increase in burglaries in the Abergavenny area by thieves who seem to be interested largely in jewellery. Over the past few weeks incidents of break-ins have been reported to police from all over the local area which have mainly had jewellery stolen from the property.

And in the past week three further incidents of jewellery theft have been reported to police and include an incident at an isolated property in Llanwenarth between 8.45am and 11.45am on December 6, when entry was gained by forcing a rear kitchen window and an unknown quantity of gold jewellery was stolen.

In the second incident the following day between 11.20am and 5.30pm in the Plas Derwen area, a rear kitchen window was smashed and along with an unknown quantity of jewellery including a 22ct gold cuff links being stolen, a gold coloured magnifying glass and a gold plated letter opener was also taken.

In the third incident on December 9 at The Bryn between 8.30am and 3.40pm a rear window was smashed to gain entry and gold jeweller was stolen. A laptop valued at £400 was also stolen in this burglary.

Police advise that home owners should make sure their windows are properly secured when they are not in the premises and that jewellery is hidden away in not an obvious place.

A police spokesman said that if anybody sees suspicious activity around a neighbour's home to contact the police as genuine builders and construction workers do not mind being verified.