Residents in Lacock are worried that their picturesque village is being targeted by thieves and burglars after a spate of crimes over the weekend.

The crime spree started on Friday afternoon when a phone box in West Street was damaged and money was taken from it.

Later in the evening four charity boxes were stolen from The George Pub in West Street - one was for the British Heart Foundation and another was for a Multiple Sclerosis charity.

The George was targeted again at 2.36am when a window was smashed and a theft then took place at 3.04am on Saturday.

A window pane was smashed near the bar and two jars were taken, one with £50 cash from customers for a Grand National sweepstake and another with the horses names not picked.

The whole incident was caught on CCTV and the images are being used to try and identify the man.

The George general manager, Janet Harris, said: "The criminals are only after money as when they broke in and took the money, next to the jars there was some very expensive wine and they didn't bother with that.”

Also on Saturday night two cars pulled up in West Street and blocked the road, trying to steal the scarecrow outside The George and also at a house across the road where they were scaling the wall.

A passer-by raised the alarm, shouting at them and they fled in the cars.

Although the scarecrow incidents are not thought to be related to the thefts, villagers are concerned about the crime spree.

Ms Harris said: “It doesn't feel very safe at the moment. We have had two very, very restless nights. The neighbours, a little while ago, had their shed broken into. It's not very nice. We don't feel very secure.

"We are waiting to hear from police.

“It's a real sleepy village so this sort of thing doesn't normally happen. We do need to get a response from police. We would welcome more patrols.”

National Trust manager for Lacock, Graham Heard, said: “ I am concerned we have a level of petty vandalism and crime at the moment.

“It’s very, very out of character in the village as we are fortunate to have had many years of low level crime.

“I do know that the police are following up leads on the crimes but I would encourage everybody in the village to be on guard and report any incidents.

“The more leads the police are told of the better.”

Anyone with information about incidents happening in the village should call 0845 408 7000.