Police pledge to crack down on town's rise in car crime

The Government told police in 2000 that car crime in Darlington had to be cut by 30 per cent by 2005.

But statistics show that it actually rose by 35 per cent last year. For the past quarter of the year, the number of car-related crimes was well above Government targets.

Inspector Paul Unsworth, from Darlington Community Safety Partnership, said the Home Office compared the Darlington police division to other divisions across the country and placed it at the bottom of the group for car crime.

"They said in relation to vehicle crime we were below average, in fact, really well below average.

"They told us what our targets should be. It told us what we knew anyway - that we have had to put in a co-ordinated and consistent effort to try to do something about the problem."

Insp Unsworth said a campaign - Operation Tannin - had already been launched to tackle car crime, which had resulted in a 4.6 per cent reduction between January and May this year.

"We feel we are having a positive effect," he said. "We are working hard to do something about it and it's important that people realise that."

Measures include increased Neighbourhood Watch activity, sting operations to catch people breaking into cars, more forensic evidence being gathered from targeted cars and letters being sent to people who leave belongings on view in their vehicles.

Detective Inspector Paul Harker said a number of offenders had been jailed since the start of the year, which had contributed to the drop in incidents.

"We have had some considerable successes in relation to individuals. Although a lot of car crime is opportunist, there is also a hard core of people involved and we have managed to catch some of them through increased intelligence. I think overall we are trying to get a more co-ordinated approach," he said.

Anyone with information about car crime in Darlington is asked to call police on (01325) 467681.