SUSPECTED burglars are being arrested after a spate of raids in Droitwich including at a former hotel estate and a church.

DI Dave Knight of West Mercia Police said 12 suspected burglars had been arrested since January 1 after a spate of break-ins at both homes and businesses in Droitwich.

DI Knight of South Worcestershire Proactive CID, based at Worcester Police Station, said there had been a 'significant increase in burglaries' in Droitwich with 15 separate incidents since New Year's Day.

Worcester News: RESULTS: DI Dave Knight says the specialist burglary team are delivering results including arrests after a spate of break-ins, commercial and domestic, in Droitwich RESULTS: DI Dave Knight says the specialist burglary team are delivering results including arrests after a spate of break-ins, commercial and domestic, in Droitwich (Image: James Connell/Newsquest)

Three homes were also broken into in Chawson, Droitwich in the early hours of Christmas Day.

One burglary took place at St Nicholas Church in Ombersley Street West. 

He said there was a split between what are believed to be local offenders targeting items they can carry and other offenders, believed to be from outside the town, targeting industrial estates and removing items which would require a van.

Arrests have also followed a break-in at the Chateau Impney on January 14, the second in the last few months. The Regency Centre was targeted twice with five arrests made in connection to one of the incidents.

"A number of individuals are on bail in relation to that - juveniles living locally to the Droitwich area," said DI Knight.

On the second occasion someone set a fire in one of the buildings on the estate but it did not take hold.

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DI Knight said the number of burglaries in Droitwich was out of the ordinary for the town.

Meanwhile, Thomas Nightingale, 25, of Blossomfield Close, Evesham has been charged in connection with a burglary at a barber's in Tagwell Road, Droitwich on January 10 and the matter is awaiting disposal by the court.

We have already reported on burglaries on Monday, January 8 at Droitwich Spa Cricket Club and a Canal & River Trust premises.

Further burglaries followed on Friday, January 12 at The Droitwich Spa Tennis Club and Little Al’s café in the Lido.

DI Knight said: "We have a team of officers at Worcester who specialise in burglary investigation.

"The Safer Neighbourhood Team together with the Operational Patrol Unit and the Neighbourhood Crimefighting Team are working with detectives and the patrol team to stamp out this burglary rise we're currently seeing."

People who see a burglary in progress are advised to dial 999 so officers can be deployed to the scene as quickly as possible.