A STRONG message is being sent out in the hope of clamping down on car crime in hot spots surrounding Darlington town centre.

Bright yellow signs are being put up in about 20 streets this week warning motorists not to leave valuables on display for opportunist thieves.

Darlington's Community Safety Partnership has launched the scheme with other agencies, including the borough council, and is targeting areas such as Borough Road and Bank Top.

Figures show that in the last financial year there were 1,654 thefts from cars within the borough, with the majority occurring in more central areas including Northgate and Lingfield.

Sgt Paul Robinson, of the partnership, said 60 per cent of all car crimes were preventable - it was just a matter of changing motorists' habits.

About 150 signs are being attached to lamp posts this week telling people to hide any valuables.

Crime reduction officer Steve Rich said: "It is amazing how complacent people can be.

"We once found an unlocked BMW with an X-Box lying on the back seat.".

He said thieves are operating in a band just outside the town centre, where the council's CCTV coverage stops, and people, particularly workers, tend to park their cars for long periods of time.

"Motorists need to be aware of how easy it is for thieves to break into a car - it can take as little as six seconds," he said.

The campaign follows the launch of Operation Tannin, which resulted in a 4.6 per cent reduction in car crime between January and May this year.

Measures include increased Neighbourhood Watch activity, sting operations to catch people breaking into cars and letters being sent to hundreds of people who left belongings on view in their vehicles.

A rapid response team, with two patrolling wardens, also carry on the work of Operation Hawkseye, a joint police and Community Safety Partnership initiative aimed at getting car owners to lock up and put valuables out of sight.

"We have put a major effort into vehicle crime prevention already and want to continue to see improvements," said Community Insp Paul Unsworth.

"It is a problem but we are working harder to make Darlington a safer place to come for shopping or to go to work."