THREE masked men abandoned plans of an attempted robbery in a store after security alarms began blaring.

Hampshire police told the Daily Echo they were called out after three men with their faces covered went into a One Stop store in Chandler's Ford.

The men entered the shop in at 5.43am but ran away after the alarms went off and were last seen heading towards B3043 Hursley Road.

 

 

 

 

Nothing was taken from the store and no-one was hurt but the Daily Echo understands two women were in the store at the time and were left shaken up.

Charles Baynham, who owns the Quality Charles Baynham Butchers next door, said he understood three men in balaclavas had tried to raid the store as the two female staff were opening up at around 5.30am this morning.

They managed to raise the alarm he understood by pressing a panic button.

The women, one thought to be in her 60s and the other in her 40s, were shaken up by what happened, he said.

"The whole place has been cordoned off - I lost count of how many police there were.

"There must have been four or five patrol cars."

He said there had been burglary incidents over the years in the area.

Another store owner, who did not want to be identified, said: "It's worrying.  I wouldn't expect it, it's shocking.

"As far as I'm aware I haven't heard of anything since I've been here and I have been here a year.

"For crime it's always really quiet."

No arrests have been made but police have been carrying out a detailed forensic probe in the shop this morning. The shop has now reopened.

Daily Echo:

Lorraine Colliss, 54, Meon Crescent, Chandler's Ford, who works as a cleaner at a nearby snooker club, was popping into One Stop for a newspaper.

She said: "The fact that the bank's been raided a couple of times in the past I'm not entirely surprised I suppose, but we don't normally get a lot of trouble round here.

"Nobody was hurt so that's a good thing.

"I generally feel quite safe around here."