Security cameras hold the key to whether children were responsible for attacks on two charity shops and a snack bar in a town centre.

Angry traders say youngsters aged about 14 or under were filmed in the Market Place and Martlets area of Burgess Hill during Tuesday night.

But police say they will need to study video footage in detail before anyone can be interviewed.

The worst hit victims of the spree was the popular Spoilt for Choice snack bar and catering firm in the Martlets.

The thieves smashed a window to break in and emptied the till of about £250 takings, and then broke up the cash register in an orgy of damage.

A spokeswoman for the firm, who asked not to be named because of the fear of recriminations, said: "They smashed the till to pieces. They reckon they got two children under 14 on camera at about 4am. If they were there that early where were their parents? Just put them in front of me."

Police said the Marie Curie cancer charity shop in the Martlets Hall was broken into but nothing taken but an attempt to break into the nearby Cancer Relief charity failed. A spokesman for Marie Curie said staff had been upset to think that someone would target a charity shop.

Last year there was a spate of thefts of charity boxes from shops.

Concerns have led one shop, the Sue Ryder Foundation in Church Walk, to warn people wanting to donate clothes and other goods not to leave them on the doorstep because it encourages thieves.

Sgt James Hazzard, of Burgess Hill police said: "At present there is no suspect. The CCTV footage has got to be viewed, and we are also waiting to see what evidence the scenes of crime officer comes up with."