CAR owners are being warned by police to take extra care of their car stereos after a spate of thefts in Ferryhill.

One night last week, thieves broke into three cars within yards of each other and stole stereo systems from them.

The thieves targeted CD players, which all had pull-off fronts for security which had not been removed.

PC Martin Slater, based at Newton Aycliffe, said: "We would urge anyone who has a CD player in their car to remove the front controls to make them more secure.

"The vast majority of thefts from cars are of CD players where the owners has forgotten or not bothered to do this."

A Pioneer CD player and 30 compact discs were stolen from a Toyota Rav 4 and a Goodmans radio-CD and three discs were taken from a Volkswagen Golf, both in Lanark Terrace. The third theft was of a Kenwood CD player and CD albums from a Renault Clio in nearby Windsor Avenue.

The incidents happened between 8pm on June 5 and 9am on June 6. Anyone with information is asked to call police on (01325) 314401.