A string of shops in Ferndale has been targeted by vandals for the second time in as many months.

A bike shop, launderette, video shop and hair salon were ransacked by thieves in search of cash late on Tuesday night.

Owners of the small business fear yobs will eventually push them out of business.

Anne Carray, proprietor of Champers Hairdressing Salon explained: "It is hard work running your own business, you don't get any help from anybody and something like this really knocks you back, it is so unfair."

Anne opened Champers three years ago. Two months ago, a drunken party-goer hurled a builder's plank, covered in cement, through her shop window.

"It takes a long time for insurance to come through and in the meantime I am footing the bill for this kind of behaviour," she said.

Anne thinks the thieves forced open a back window to enter the premises causing £50 worth of damage.

Directly below was a sink which the thieves would have had to step into to get down. It contained a strong bleach.

"It certainly would have stained the person's shoes and trousers and I hope they were expensive too," she said.

Next they ransacked drawers and work stations looking for cash.

"We never leave any money on the premises so it looks to me like they left empty handed," she said.

"This country has had it as far as I am concerned," she said.

The break-ins come just over a month after North Swindon residents voiced concern at the lack of community beat officers in the area.

Rodbourne Cheney Residents' Association had complained that police presence on their streets was not high enough.

Anne agrees. She said: "It just seems to me like they don't care. There isn't enough of them."

Police spokeswoman Alvina Kumar said: "We have received reports of a burglaries at Video Shack in Ipswich Street where a small amount of cash was taken and Champers.

"A witness said they saw three males acting suspiciously. They were around 20-years-old, two on bikes and one was on foot."

More than £100 worth of damage was caused to the video shop door.

She urged anyone with information to contact the Swindon Police on 528111.