A SERIES of smash-and-grab raids from car park cash meters has prompted Worcester City Council to consider fitting them with armour-plated casings.

Three meters were broken into within the past week - two in Worcester and one in Droitwich - and police are now appealing for witnesses. On Thursday night cash was stolen from a meter in Copenhagen Street in Worcester and Covercroft car park in Droitwich and a third, at Silver Street in Worcester, was damaged but nothing was taken.

Four other Worcester car parks, Clare Street, Croft Road, Swanpool and Tybridge Street, have been targeted over the last three months. "It seems highly likely that these offences occurred in the early hours of the morning," said a police spokesman.

"Nevertheless, we are hopeful there will have been some people around who saw something suspicious that will help with our enquiries."

A spokesman for Worcester City Council said the authority was considering what extra security measures could be put in place. "The city council has taken every precaution to ensure the machines' security in terms of anti-vandal specification and CCTV surveillance," he said.

"We would have thought they were as secure as Fort Knox, so logically we now need to go back to see if we're doing enough.

"One of the measures we're considering is fitting armour-plated surrounds to vault doors as yet another layer of security."

He said the machines were regularly emptied to ensure they were not left full overnight.