Kanu's neighbours pay for guards

Residents in one of London's wealthiest suburbs are paying hundreds of pounds each for private security patrols after a surge in violent attacks and house raids, including two on Arsenal footballer Nwankwo Kanu.

A series of robberies in which thieves have followed wealthy businessmen home before attacking them and stealing millions of pounds worth of jewellery has been met with growing alarm in the community.

In an effort to stop violent crime escalating residents in Hadley Wood, Barnet - which boasts one of the highest number of millionaires living in Britain - have decided to employ a private security firm to run a 24-hour patrol.

A network of CCTV cameras will be installed and residents who pay for the scheme will be given mobile panic buttons, linked to the police and the security firm. The decision follows similar moves by residents in St John's Wood and Kensington.

At a meeting attended by hundreds of residents and police chiefs, Simon Lester, 37, a hotel company chief executive, said: "There has been overwhelming support from residents and the police for our scheme, and every family taking part has agreed to pay a minimum of £500."

The scheme is expected to begin this week and residents are convinced it will bring crime down, returning their neighbourhood to the peaceful, crime-free neighbourhood it once was. The security firm has yet to be named.

Mr Lester said: "We are a dynamic community and we have decided to do something about the crime problem. The criminals should know that if they have any criminal intentions for Hadley Wood they should think again. They will get caught."

During an attack at Kanu's £3 million home on 10 March the thieves ransacked his six-bedroom property stealing mobile phones, cash and clothes valued at thousands of pounds. The raiders held his brother, Henry, at gunpoint and stole his £45,000 BMW. In a previous raid in September 2000 Kanu returned from abroad to find his home stripped of property worth £200,000, including the UEFA Cup Winner's medal he won with Inter Milan, a £10,000 Rolex watch and his £70,000 Mercedes.

Detectives are linking the recent attack on the Nigerian footballer's home to a series of carjackings in north London. Kanu's former teammate Marc Overmars, who lived nearby, was also the victim of a series of burglaries when he played for Arsenal.

Other residents who have been attacked outside their homes and beaten by masked raiders say the area has changed dramatically in recent months.

One 41-year-old father of two, who declined to be named, said: "I was attacked by three men as I came home at 10.30 one night in January. They knocked me to the ground, punched my wife in the face, and even woke up my 12-year-old son to ask where his daddy kept his valuables.

"I suffered cuts and bruises and my wife had a split lip, but it is the psychological scars that will stay with all of us longer.

"We went to have dinner with friends 100 yards down the road last week, but my wife was too afraid to walk, so we took the car. We drove 100 yards, something we would never have done a few months ago.

"During the attack our 14-year-old daughter thought her mother was being murdered, and she locked herself into our bedroom to dial 999. Our son was traumatised at being woken up by one of the men.

"People react differently to experiences like ours, and my reaction is to fight back and create something positive out of it. I doubt I will be attacked again, as we have really stepped up our security measures and got ourselves a big new guard dog, but I am determined to stop it happening to any of our neighbours."