<p>Partly fuelled by rising price of gold, the shops have been the target of attacks since mid-2010. Two smash-and-grab raids have already been reported from the area in 2011.<br />Belgrave Road, which is dotted with several Indian banks and shops owned by Asians, is also known as the Golden Mile due to the large number of jewellery shops in the area. The road is also the venue of popular Diwali celebrations.<br /><br />Reports from Leicester say that police officers have stepped up patrols along Belgrave Road and Melton Road, which are home to 18 jewellery shops, following the latest robbery on Saturday, in which jeweller Sundeep Kanda was struck with an axe as he tried to fight off the gang of crooks.<br /><br />A similar robbery took place at a nearby premises on New Year's Day.The police have been using automatic number-plate recognition (ANPR) cameras to scan the registration of cars entering the area to see if they have been linked to other offences.<br /><br />Belgrave neighbourhood beat sergeant Sarah Widdowson told the local media: "We want to reassure businesses and residents that we are doing all we can to prevent anything like this happening again.<br /><br />"In the short-term, we are increasing patrols and using ANPR. In the long-term, every jeweller has agreed to have a working Citywatch radio link so they can warn each other of any problems."<br /><br />She added: "Over the next month, our crime prevention officer will visit every jeweller and advise them on how they can improve their own security with measures such as fitting CCTV to cover the outside of their shops if they don't have it already."<br />Kanda, 28, of Sunny Jewellers, said he was pleased with the police response.<br /><br />"The police have been brilliant.They have been working really hard after my place was robbed, but people are nervous about another raid happening. The robbers clearly don't mind taking a risk or hurting someone to get their hands on the gold. We need the police presence so this area isn't considered a soft touch for robbers," Kanda said</p>
<p>Partly fuelled by rising price of gold, the shops have been the target of attacks since mid-2010. Two smash-and-grab raids have already been reported from the area in 2011.<br />Belgrave Road, which is dotted with several Indian banks and shops owned by Asians, is also known as the Golden Mile due to the large number of jewellery shops in the area. The road is also the venue of popular Diwali celebrations.<br /><br />Reports from Leicester say that police officers have stepped up patrols along Belgrave Road and Melton Road, which are home to 18 jewellery shops, following the latest robbery on Saturday, in which jeweller Sundeep Kanda was struck with an axe as he tried to fight off the gang of crooks.<br /><br />A similar robbery took place at a nearby premises on New Year's Day.The police have been using automatic number-plate recognition (ANPR) cameras to scan the registration of cars entering the area to see if they have been linked to other offences.<br /><br />Belgrave neighbourhood beat sergeant Sarah Widdowson told the local media: "We want to reassure businesses and residents that we are doing all we can to prevent anything like this happening again.<br /><br />"In the short-term, we are increasing patrols and using ANPR. In the long-term, every jeweller has agreed to have a working Citywatch radio link so they can warn each other of any problems."<br /><br />She added: "Over the next month, our crime prevention officer will visit every jeweller and advise them on how they can improve their own security with measures such as fitting CCTV to cover the outside of their shops if they don't have it already."<br />Kanda, 28, of Sunny Jewellers, said he was pleased with the police response.<br /><br />"The police have been brilliant.They have been working really hard after my place was robbed, but people are nervous about another raid happening. The robbers clearly don't mind taking a risk or hurting someone to get their hands on the gold. We need the police presence so this area isn't considered a soft touch for robbers," Kanda said</p>