A POLICE officer has expressed his frustration after householders failed to heed his advice to lock their doors and windows to keep out unwanted visitors.

An appeal last week saw the chief superintendent of Middlesbrough, Mark Braithwaite, urging residents not to let burglars walk into their homes.

But after the weekend, when two homes in Lin- thorpe and two in the Town West area of Middlesbrough were broken into, the new district commander has admitted his frustration with some householders' continuing carelessness.

He said: "I have said this before and I repeat it now, police and other agencies are working extremely hard to reduce burglaries in Middlesbrough, and our efforts are paying off.

"However, residents must play their part too. It is no good us patrolling or targeting the people we suspect are responsible for a lot of the crime in the town if home owners are simply leaving doors and windows unlocked."

More than a third of reported burglaries in the Middlesbrough are down to careless residents leaving doors and windows open and keys lying around, although there has been a reduction in the number of walk-in incidents.

This year has seen a 25 per cent reduction on last year's figures, which means 483 people or families have not been put through the misery of being burgled.

Mr Braithwaite said that this time of year provides extra temptation for passing thieves who cannot resist the sight of Christmas presents left under the tree.

"Imagine your children's disappointment if their Christmas presents are stolen before they even receive them," he said.

"Imagine how you are going to explain to them they have been stolen and that you cannot afford to replace them.

"Thieves have no compassion or festive spirit, they do not care about those whose homes they target. They don't care that they are taking the kids presents."

Mr Braithwaite is urging householders to take some simple precautionary measures to prevent them becoming the next statistic.

He said: "Do not make it easy for them."

Free advice is available by contacting the Middlesbrough Crime Prevention team on (01642) 303171.