SENIOR local police officers have requested an independent, internal inquiry into the case of the Sheen shopkeeper who claims he has been forced to sell up by the failure of the police to protect his business.

John McEnany told the Times last week that his shop Rockstar has been burgled four times in 18 months, is at the mercy of prolific shoplifters and suffered at the hands of a fraudster who walked free from court.

But Inspector Chris Watts, who was so concerned at the story that he went to see Mr McEnany at his shop, said he can only find evidence of two burglaries.

He added: "I have been asking Mr McEnany for six days now to provide me with details of the other two burglaries and so far he has been unable to.

"We are doing as much as we can but there are a lot of unanswered questions."

Mr McEnany is not reassured by the sudden interest the police are showing and claims they are on a mission to discredit him and his story, which alleges incompetence and corruption by local officers.

Mr McEnany said: "I'm really worried and I'm absolutely furious.

"Inspector Watts is now investigating my insurance claims, where I used to work and where I lived when I was abroad.

"I feel his whole motive is to find a hidden chink in my armour and discredit me."

Inspector Chris Watts said: "We want to know who his insurance provider is because at the moment he can't even give us dates of these supposed two burglaries.

"We thought perhaps his insurers might be able to tell help. At the moment I'm feeling very much in the dark."

Mr McEnany claims police ignored information from a witness about the suspects and where the goods were being stored after a burglary on the night of October 15th 2000.

Inspector Watts is unapologetic. He said: "The reason we didn't follow up information about those suspects was because it was an anonymous. Human rights legislation prevents us from acting on anonymous tip-offs, because it would be too easy for people with a grudge to get revenge.

"When people who are victims of a burglary say they know who did it and they can't say how they know, we have to be very circumspect. Officers went to get an out of hours search warrant on October 18th and it was executed the next day."

Mr McEnany's plight attracted the attention of local politicians, and local councillor John Ross visited him last week.

Cllr Ross said he felt saddened' that any local businessman would feel they had been driven from the borough and added: "I am anxious that the police should do more and I think that only by fully vocal complaints can we get things changed."

As ward councillor for Barnes he admitted that despite police assurances, local people sometimes felt unprotected from the effects of crime. "I am sympathetic to how Mr McEnany feels. My experience is that in Barnes, particularly near the bridge there are a lot of people who feel they are in the middle of a widening spiral of crime.

"Although we are constantly told that this is the second safest borough in London the police are currently reminding people not to leave things in their cars because kids cycle up and down the road.

"Smash goes the window, in goes their arm and out goes whatever it was you left in the car."

He attributes some of the lack of a visible police presence locally to officers being taken to central London as part of anti-terrorist operations.

Council Leader Tony Arbour, who has committed himself to reducing crime and the fear of crime in the borough said that although he knew of Mr McEnany's concerns he felt the police were better placed to comment.