By Hannah Bayman BBC News Online, Hampshire

A young female cashier was recently assaulted in the local butcher's

But, fed up by a lack of police and a recent spate of petty crime, villagers have clubbed together to pay for 24-hour surveillance by CCTV cameras.

A dance at a hotel and sales of a local history book helped raise �8,000.

Paul Robinson, who runs the village's award-winning family butcher, said: "We are safer now in our beds."

Only a handful of crimes were reported in Stockbridge - population 500 - last year.

The police station is open just three hours every week day, from 0900 - 1000 and 1700 - 1900, and closed at weekends.

I know it is nothing compared to what goes on in the middle of Salisbury Paul Robinson

But Mr Robinson says residents were shaken by a string of thefts and vandalism.

In one of the worst incidents, a man indecently assaulted a young woman cashier at the butcher's, then took advantage of her distress to grab �240 from the till.

Mr Robinson told BBC News Online: "I know it is nothing compared to what goes on in the middle of Salisbury or Southampton, but it is not very nice.

"The police cover here is fairly low, as is common all around the country, with money being cut back all the time.

"Raising money to buy the cameras was a real community effort.

"All of the traders got involved and we did lots of begging - knocking on people's doors to ask for donations.

"Criminals will know now that if they come to Stockbridge we have surveillance 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to reduce the crime that goes on in this village."

Third camera

The two cameras are powerful enough to record a car number plate at either end of the village from their vantage point on top of the central Grosvenor Hotel.

The footage is not monitored, but is saved to computer at the police station, ready to be retrieved if needed to crack a crime.

Soon the parish council hopes to raise enough to buy a third camera.

Village officer Pc Tim Bonsor told BBC News Online that Hampshire police were supporting the scheme and had contributed to installation costs.

He said: "Because Stockbridge is a rural area, normally only one or two officers are on duty and we can't open the police station if we are out on patrols.

"People decided that CCTV scheme would be a good idea for many reasons, including the fact that they have seen them cut crime in other areas of the country."