AN ANGRY Stourport optician has called for more action to be taken against vandals after repeatedly being left to pick up the pieces since moving to the town nine months ago.

Ed Evans, who owns Seymour & Easlea Opticians with his wife, Debbie, wants more help to combat the "ongoing problem" after yobs ripped down and stole a new £150 banner sign from his High Street shop at the weekend.

It is the latest in the line of incidents the Kidderminster couple have had to endure since opening their first business last year.

They have been forced to spend more than £500 on replacing smashed windows and removing paint thrown across the front of the premises and will now have to spend £150 to replace the sign.

Mr Evans feared he might, reluctantly, have to raise prices to meet the repair costs if the menace continued and demanded more help for shopkeepers in the town centre.

The 34-year-old explained: "It just seems like it is one thing after another at the moment. We have had windows smashed, paint thrown over windows and we have to clean the side of the shop virtually every weekend because people seem to think it is fine to use it as a toilet. We only had the sign for two weeks and have not even paid for it yet.

"Something has got to be done because it seems like a shop in High Street or Lombard Street is having something done to it every week. Everyone is getting fed up with it now."

A £190,000 scheme to install five CCTV cameras in Stourport has been approved to tackle the problem of anti-social behaviour following the success of a similar initiative in Kidderminster.

Nathan Desmond, Wyre Forest District Council's cabinet member for community and leisure services, said he was aware of the town centre problem and hoped the system would be up and running by next spring.

He added: "We are currently in consultation with key partners, including the police, to work out the exact locations where the cameras will be placed. Obviously, the key areas will be around High Street, Lombard Street and Bridge Street."

West Mercia constabulary spokesman, Dylan Evans, said officers were not aware of a persistent problem of vandalism in the town but said "spasmodic incidents" had been reported.

Witnesses or anyone with information about the stolen Seymour & Easlea sign, whichwas taken some time between 5pm on Saturday and 1pm on Sunday, should call Stourport police on 08457 444888.