9 October 2012 Last updated at 08:31 ET

Crawley meeting over spate of Asian jewellery thefts

Police have been criticised for inaction after a spate of burglaries targeting jewellery owned by Crawley's Asian community.

According to Sussex Police, more than 40 homes have been targeted in the past three months.

Community leaders said some people were too scared to leave their homes and police needed to do more.

A dedicated police team has been formed and a community meeting will be held with officers later.

Bharat Lukka, a Hindu community leader in Crawley, said not enough was being done to combat the thieves.

"People are scared to leave their homes - I don't see any excess police on the roads," he said.

However, Ch Insp Steve Curry, from Sussex Police, denied police had failed to act.

He said: "We're doing everything we possibly can to identify, target and defeat these individuals."

The meeting will take place at Crawley Civic Hall at 19:00 BST.