POLICE have released CCTV of a man they would like to speak to in connection with an armed robbery in the New Forest.

An investigating is on-going into the incident which occurred at the Co-op store on Oak Tree Parade, Bransgore last Monday evening around 9pm.

During the robbery a man threatened staff with a knife, before leaving the store with a holdall containing alcohol, cigarettes and cash.

Officers believe the raid is linked to an attempted robbery which took place half an hour before and just six miles away in Christchurch.

The Co-op convenience store has suffered a series of attacks in recent years, including in 2015 when a ram-raid was carried out in the early hours of the morning and left one of the store's windows smashed to the ground.

Following the latest incident traders in Bransgore said there appears to be no end to the crime wave hitting the village.

Jens Lammering, of the Village Pet Shop, said: "It's a ludicrous situation, there is no support. Police come and ask you, but they are never there when you need them and it's not the force's fault. It is down to the government cutting all the time.

"There is limited police in Christchurch and limited numbers in Ringwood. Where would you want to hit? It doesn't take a genius to understand this is where they are going to target.

"The bakery has been hit in the last year, the hairdressers has been hit twice in the last year, the charity shop has been hit multiple times. For the Co-op this is probably the fourth or fifth time they have been hit. Why isn't anything done?

"The frustrating thing is the government aren't interested. They are not interested in what is going on at the ground level and real people suffer as a result.

"Politicians in ivory towers are not being real about what is needed.

"There is a constant feed of people being hit and it drives places out of business. It is demoralising that there is nothing done about this kind of crime."

Other traders said it was never good to discover neighbouring stores had been subject to violence.

Michelle Capel, who works in nearby Elizabeth's Bakery, said: "It is such a small village so you don't expect this sort of thing to carry on and also for an incident like that to happen not particularly late at night is distressing.

"There just seems to be something every week at the moment.

"They have had quite a few break-ins there and I think they have had to step up the measures in the store.

"Here and the hairdressers was done at 11pm, you just don't expect it."