Drug dealers from London are targeting Winchester, increasing the availability of hard drugs such as heroin and crack cocaine.

The problem has been highlighted by the conviction of London criminals who raided a Winchester shop.

On Tuesday, at the Winchester Crown Court a second armed robber was jailed for attacking the One Stop shop in Winnall.

Daniel McLean (20) terrorised customers and staff at the One Stop shop in Garbett Road in September.

McLean brandished an imitation firearm in the face of staff and made off with several hundred pounds in cash and phone cards.

He pleaded guilty to robbery, possession of a firearm and possession of imitation firearm.

Sentencing him, Judge Patrick Hooton said: "We are living in a society where gun crime is becoming a very serious and deadly problem. Those people in the shop might have thought they were going to be killed.

"It is difficult to imagine the fear of someone with a gun in their face."

Last week, co-accused, Daniel Doyle (19) the robbers' lookout, was jailed for six years.

Both men were members of an alleged gang of four from Peckham who took a train to collect drug debts.

Co-accused, Omar Brown (25) was cleared of all three charges he faced. The court was told that a fourth man, who was never arrested, had been supplying drugs in Winchester. His gang called on Paula Heathers, in Mildmay Street, Stanmore, to collect money. Called to give evidence, she said she could remember nothing - except to deny dealing for him.

The group left her house without collecting any payment and police believe the robbery may have been a spur-of-the-moment decision.

Det. Con. Gary Steward, of Winchester CID, said: "There has been a noticeable increase in people from London dealing drugs and cornering the market.

"It is happening in Winchester with people, mainly from the Afro-Caribbean community, frequently coming down by train or car for illicit purposes. They are intimidating - especially if you are a local drugs dealer - and, with drugs comes violence."

DC Steward said the Londoners were willing to use force and there had been several attacks on local people, most of which were not reported to the police. The cause was the saturation of the drugs market in the capital. "London is swamped," said DC Steward. "They have been told to leave by bigger fish. They say: 'Go to Winchester, they're all carrot-munchers down there.' We are seen as an easy target.

Dc Steward said the Londoners will link up with subdealers who then hook up with locals often operating at first on credit. "The public need to be vigilant. If they see anything untoward on the streets in Winnall or Stanmore, something suspicious, their first impressions are probably correct.

"We would like to hear about it. If someone sees something happening, strangers talking to local riff-raff, we can stop and check. We could capture a reasonable amount of hard drugs."