UPDATE, Friday, 2.40pm:

State Member for Whitsunday Jason Costigan said the State Government should explain what it will do to address what he called a recent "spate of crime" in Proserpine.

"When the LNP was in office, we significantly boosted the numbers of police officers on the beat right across the State but sadly, we have a Government that is soft on crime," he said.

INITIAL:

THREE Proserpine men are assisting police in their investigations after two business break-ins in Proserpine.

Clothing store Climate Classics and hairdressing salon Handz on Heads, both near the Main St at Proserpine, were broken into on Tuesday night.

Men's watches were taken from Climate Classics, and about $200 was taken from the till at the hairdressing salon.

Proserpine police station officer in charge Sergeant Mark Flynn said the men were aged 26, 31 and 44, but no charges had yet been laid.

He said this morning police executed search warrants at two houses, and at one property found jewellery and a generator that appeared to be the same as one that was stolen from a Proserpine business in April.

Climate Classics owner Janine Muller said it appeared thieves had forced open the front door of the store.

Mrs Muller said luckily no cash had been kept on the premises, but thousands of dollars' worth of Adina watches were taken.

"Some of the watches they took were quite unique," she said.

The experience of being broken into has been extremely upsetting.           

"We sacrifice a lot to run our business, it's not just financial, it's personal as well," Mrs Muller said.

"For someone to come along and think they can break in and take what they see fit, they don't understand they've put so much more pressure on the business."

Mrs Muller said she hoped the community would band together to fight robbery and crime.

"We really need to do something about nipping it in the bud. It just doesn't reflect well on Proserpine being a small country town," she said.

Handz on Heads owner Karyn Stockings said she was lucky that all that was taken from her salon was $200 in the float.

"It could have been a lot worse. Maybe when they found the money, they were happy to leave with it," she said.

Yet Ms Stockings, who has owned the salon for 17 years without a break-in, agreed that for her too, the experience was unsettling.

"We're open late Wednesday nights, and we were quite unnerved leaving here last night," she said.

Sgt Flynn said businesses could boost safety by making warning signs visible around their stores and not keeping cash on premises.

Other business security tips:

• Display your business name and address at the front of your premises to help emergency services locate your property.
• Ensure clear visibility inside and outside your business by using good lighting and keeping it clutter free.
• Keep trees and shrubs trimmed to help reduce concealment opportunities and increase visibility when travelling to and from your business.
• Install solid external doors and fit with quality locks.
• Reinforce glass in doors/windows with shatter resistant film or laminated glass.
• Record details of property/assets owned by your business and mark for identification purposes.
• Position CCTV cameras at point-of-sale and entry/exits and test regularly.