CHRISTMAS shoppers in Darlington have been given an alarming insight into how quickly thieves can ruin their festive season.

Police set up a display stand in the town's Cornmill Shopping Centre to demonstrate the perils of leaving goods on display in parked cars.

The Darlington force has recently been using a sting operation to snare opportunist criminals who smash their way into vehicles where valuable items are often carelessly left on show.

Vehicles were left with items in full view in areas of the town known to have high levels of car crime.

The results of the operation so far were illustrated at the police stand in the Cornmill Centre on Saturday and yesterday.

Videotape footage shows thieves can carry out a smash and grab raid in six seconds.

The operation has proved a success, with the number of car crimes falling from 140 in April to 113 in October.

But the display stand included information showing that there had been 117 cases in November, prompting a fresh warning from police for motorists to remain vigilant.

A Darlington police spokesman said: "The message is the same as ever to Christmas shoppers - don't leave anything on display, put it in the boot or anywhere else where it is out of sight."

Last month, two 14-year-old youths admitted stealing a handbag from a vehicle left in Harris Street, taking just six seconds to commit the crime,

When they appeared at Darlington Youth Court, after being caught by the sting operation, they were each given three-month referral orders and their parents were fined.

Last month, police admitted they had been "horrified" at how easy motorists were making it for thieves to raid their cars.

Operation Hawkeye found that, over a five-week period, there were 350 cases of valuable items being left on show.

As a result, police wrote to the car owners concerned, warning them of the potential dangers of theft.