THE owners of a Ledbury business burgled 25 times in as many years are again counting the costs of a raid and wondering what else they can do to protect their premises.

The Dual Sport motorcycle shop, in Worcester Road, was raided at 4am on Monday and thieves made off with two children's mini off-road motorcycles from a store room.

The stolen goods are valued at £1,600 in total.

Jennifer Jones, who owns the shop with husband Gordon, said: "That's three times in the last 12 months. I'm sure it was the thieves who came last Christmas. They were very tidy.

"I've got so used to it, I'm taking it in my stride. Of all the shops in Ledbury, we've probably been broken into most of all."

The shop's extensive security is once more under review, having already been beefed up only a few months ago.

This time the thieves tried to bypass the double locks and an alarm on a big double wooden door by quietly removing the doors from their hinges.

However the alarm went off but by the time Mr Gordon had raced downstairs, the culprits had gone.

After last Christmas' raid on the store room, burglars returned for a ram raid attack through the shop's front window a few weeks later.

They caused £5,000 worth of damage. In that case, Mr Jones arrived downstairs in time to see an intruder drive away in a pick-up truck and nothing was taken.

Police attending on Monday arrived from Hereford in around 15 minutes and Mrs Jones is now calling for the town's CCTV cameras to be linked directly to the police's central control room in Hereford.

At the moment, Ledbury's CCTV system is not monitored 24 hours a day but records incidents for future investigation.

Mrs Jones said if incidents were watched 'live' then police would have had an idea which way the thieves had fled.

She also called for special constables to be on site in Ledbury with bleepers.

Inspector Geoff Mayor of Ledbury Police Station said: "It's a novel idea, but the response to this call was quick in any case, and there is a problem recruiting specials."

Concerning the CCTV suggestion, he said: "It's under the umbrella of Herefordshire Council and I know there were talks about linking up to a central point. It's possibly something for the future. I would welcome it."

Inspector Mayor said the Jones's had already "gone a long way towards their own protection," concerning security at the shop.

The motorbikes taken this week were an orange KTM Pro Senior and a yellow Motorama.