PROWLERS, distraction burglaries and anti-social behaviour at a Basingstoke sheltered housing scheme have forced an increase in security.

Elderly residents at Townsend Close, Brookvale, have been targeted over the last year and now Kingfisher Housing Association is boosting anti-crime measures in place in their homes.

Steve Brewer, Kingfisher's tenancy enforcement officer, said the measures, which include extra locks and CCTV, will help residents feel safer.

He said: "We're hoping to raise awareness and have been seeing if the police can give any additional information on how to be safe. "We're putting in CCTV cameras and we are hoping that is going to be a big deterrent."

Sheltered scheme manager Jane Goddard said residents had been worried by the apparent targeting of the estate. She said: "Before Christmas, there was an incident at a lady's home where a man entered her property. She managed to pull her security cord and alert us.

"The most recent incident occurred when a man got into a house through a bedroom window while the resident was in her home. He took her handbag and there were four other attempts to break-in to homes on the estate that evening."

The resident involved in the most recent burglary, which happened on January 15, does not want to be named but said she was shocked to discover the man in her front room.

She said: "I was scared and when I saw him I screamed. I couldn't think properly because I did not really realise what was happening. Everything happened so quickly."

She managed to pull an emergency cord and the man ran off. The resident admitted she will now take extra precautions in her home.

Only last week, a group of teenagers got into an entrance hall where they drank alcohol and intimidated residents.

The housing association believes the new security measures, combined with police advice and CCTV, will help cut the number of incidents in the area.