Worried traders in Brighouse fear criminals are targeting the town because it has no CCTV system.

Traders claim that because there is CCTV in neighbouring towns, criminals are going to Brighouse for "easy pickings."

Concerns were raised about the lack of CCTV following an armed robbery at Woolworths, in Commercial Street, Brighouse, last week.

Three masked men - one of whom was armed with what was believed to be a sawn-off shotgun - lay in wait for the manageress as she arrived to open up at 7.30am. The 38-year-old woman was threatened by the gang and made to tell them where the safe and its keys were, before being bound and gagged.

The intruders broke in through a skylight in the roof and escaped the same way. The woman was unhurt, although shaken, and a substantial amount of cash was stolen.

Following the raid, police visited shops to see whether any of the premises had CCTV.

Glyn Foster, a member of Brighouse Business Club who runs a jeweller's shop in the town, claimed police were not backing the traders' calls for CCTV because crime figures in the town were not high enough.

"I can speak for most of the traders who would like to see CCTV in Brighouse," he said. "We have tried in the past to get it introduced but it is the old Catch-22 situation in that we have to have a lot of crime before it can be introduced.

"We have a radio system in the town where around 20 shops have radios linked to one another. When problems arise, we know who to look out for, as descriptions are radioed to everyone who is in the network.

"Unfortunately the radio system doesn't stop crime at night or out of working hours, but it brings crime figures down and makes it look as though we don't have as much as we actually do. We have to show that we have a lot of crime before the CCTV panel will even consider it."

Mr Foster was concerned about the fact that neighbouring towns had CCTV and criminals might enter Brighouse looking for easy pickings.

Bill Terry, the Brighouse Forum programme manager, claimed traders had no real support from the police or the Home Office for such a move.

"It would be a real help to police if we had it installed, but they won't back it," he said, "If it was an area that had a great deal of crime, there would be no problem."

Mr Terry said the radio system had proved "extremely effective" since its introduction three years ago. "The system is good, but any other measures we can take to cut down crime should also be investigated. The major problem is funding. We are looking at hundreds of thousands of pounds just to install CCTV.