The public is being urged to help Police after a spate of street robberies in the central parishes in the last few weeks - including a stabbing on Tuesday.

The latest attack in the early hours of yesterday morning involved a 31-year-old man being forced to the ground and kicked and punched by an assailant who stole his gold chain.

The day before a 23-year-old man was stabbed in the chest after being set upon by two men who took $500 cash from his trouser pocket. has reported five other serious robberies since the start of the year but it remained unclear last night whether Police were connecting the attacks. Sean Pitcher, chairman of Crimestoppers, which allows members of the public to report crimes anonymously, said the incidents made it more vital than ever for witnesses and others with information to come forward.

?Any increase in crime is cause for concern and even more reason for citizens to co-operate with Police,? he said.

The stabbing happened in the early hours of Tuesday near the junction of Controversy Lane and Tulo Lane in Pembroke. The victim, from Hamilton parish, was walking when he was attacked from behind by two men.

One of the assailants restrained him while the other rifled through his pockets and stole the money. The first man then stabbed the victim in the chest with a blade.

The victim escaped and fled on foot, later attending King Edward VII Memorial Hospital for treatment for a minor stab wound and a cut right hand. He was last night on a general ward in a stable condition. His attackers were two young black men, both about five feet, six inches tall and wearing long black T-shirts and blue jeans. One wore a long red hooded top.

Yesterday?s robbery happened at about 2 a.m. when a man from Devonshire was walking towards his car after leaving an establishment in Court Street, Pembroke. He ignored a man who tried to speak to him but the person then grabbed him from behind, causing him to fall. The victim was kicked and punched while on the ground, before the attacker took the jewellery and walked off with two women towards Front Street.

Police later arrested three people on Front Street in connection with the robbery: a 23-year-old St. George?s man and two 19-year-old women, one from Warwick and one from Devonshire. The trio were taken to Hamilton Police Station for questioning and detained. The victim reported no injuries.

The two incidents come just days after the daylight robbery of a senior in Pembroke by two men on a motorcycle on Sunday and a vicious baseball bat attack on a 39-year-old man in the same parish on January 17.

A 71-year-old man was robbed while sitting in his car in Paget on January 8 and the day before that a 59-year-old man was mugged on Pitts Bay Road, also by two males on a bike.

No one at Bermuda Police Service, which releases its end of year crime statistics today, responded to telephone messages left yesterday asking for more information on the robberies.

The Crimestoppers number is 1-800-623-8477. The main Police number is 295-0011.