PENSIONER Florence Cooper will never forget the day she found out her home had been burgled.

The 83-year-old was in hospital when an intruder smashed in through the back door of her Basingstoke home. Doctors kept the raid a secret from Florence for days because they were so concerned about the distress it would cause.

Florence was visibly upset as she told The Gazette: "It's a horrible feeling to know that someone has been in your house.

"One thing that made me really sad was that a lovely hunter's watch, which belonged to my husband, was stolen.

"My husband had died a few months beforehand, so that made the burglary even more upsetting for me."

Florence said she has spent thousands of pounds improving the security on her home since the raid, but added: "I'm still a bit dubious about my safety. If burglars can get into Buckingham Palace, they can get in anywhere if they really want to."

The good news is that the man who burgled Florence's home and two other houses in Oakridge - 25-year-old Marvin Davis, of St Andrews Road, South Ham - was caught. In January, 2003, he was jailed for three years.

Unfortunately, the bad news is that as a victim of burglary, Florence is far from alone.

The latest police figures show that, on average, 10 homes are burgled in the Basingstoke area every week - and the problem is growing.

Burglars struck at more homes in and around the town between April and December, 2002, than they did in the whole of the previous 12 months.

Detective Sergeant Steve Cook, of Basingstoke CID, said: "A lot of people are coming into the Basingstoke area to commit burglaries. They know there is money in the area, so we're quite an easy target, especially with such good transport routes.

"The public needs to help us by helping themselves. They should take numbers of suspicious cars, watch for people acting suspiciously and look after elderly people on their street.

"We're doing our best, but we can't be everywhere, so we need as much help as we can get."

The Gazette has launched a campaign to encourage our readers to take up this challenge.

Burglary is a problem - but together we can beat it.

Our campaign "Burglary - Let's Beat It" aims to help reduce the number of burglaries, highlight the benefits of better security and crime prevention schemes, give victims a voice and demonstrate how we can all help the police combat the burglary problem.