POLICE are urging people to put identifying marks on their valuables, after recovering five unmarked games consoles.

Officers in Darlington recovered four PlayStations and one Xbox, which are believed to have been stolen, on Thursday, but cannot return them to their owners as they are not marked.

Neighbourhood Watch liaison officer Jacqui Snowball said: "Property marking covers much more than PlayStations.

"Mountain bikes are another example of property which is often recovered, but without a record of the serial number or identification marking, again cannot be reunited with the owner."

She said there were about 95 bicycles recovered during this year and last which are now stored at Darlington police station.

"The majority of these will not be reunited with their rightful owner as there is no identification available to trace where they have originated from," said Mrs Snowball. She said people were failing to report thefts, meaning police were unable to reunite owners with their stolen property.

"At least one bike recovered could not be linked to a crime because the victim had not reported the loss," she said.

"The full scale of this situation is unknown. However, this reluctance to report crime, under the misconception that nothing can or will be done, is counter-productive, because the reports are not made and hot-spot areas and crime trends cannot be accurately identified."

Ms Snowball said people should note the serial numbers of valuables.

Free property marking kits are available from the Neighbourhood Watch Liaison office on (01325) 346832. To report a theft, call the police on (01325) 467681.

* Darlington's Firthmoor estate had one house burglary and one shed burglary last month. There were also four thefts, one theft of a motor vehicle, one theft from a motor vehicle and four incidents of criminal damage.