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As break-ins and robberies continue to plague residents and businesses, service station dealers who have become regular targets, say they are fed up and are contemplating action.

Secretary of the Service Station Dealers Association Maurice Percival made the disclosure yesterday on OBSERVER AM.

“Service station (owners) have reached a stage now that we are fed up with what’s happening,” he said. “We’re doing our best but the fact remains that the criminals are still able to pick their targets, do their damage and get away.

“One of these days you will wake up to find all service stations closed all day as a protest.”

He said while members haven’t set a time or date for such action, they will be meeting with the police and eventually decide how they’ll go about it.

News of this comes two days after masked and armed bandits stormed M&M Service Station terrorising staff and customers and firing off several shots in the process.

A woman sitting in a car on the compound was reportedly grazed when a bullet penetrated the vehicle. That was just one of several incidents in which masked bandits have violated service stations.

“It’s costing the service stations a lot, especially for security,” Percival said. “(Installing) bright lights, paying security (officers) to be there, getting armoured vehicles to transport money to the bank, it’s costing us a good lot to keep business in operation and trying to keep it safe.”

He said the effort to implement security measures for the safety and security of workers and customers is ongoing.

“We encourage them to be vigilant, to be on the lookout (and know) the quickest thing to do if something comes up,” Percival said.

The service station dealers’ spokesperson called for closer collaboration between the police and the community, suggesting that the police should be in a better position to respond more quickly to distress calls.

“These criminal acts are causing a tension in our free and relaxed Antigua & Barbuda,” he said. “We believe there’s a set of people going around and as long as they are getting away with it, they’re going to continue.”