POLICE are urging householders to be on their guard after a series of sneak-in burglaries in the Stanley area during the last few weeks.

The thieves have taken advantage of people leaving their properties insecure.

In the Stanley area five homes have been broken into recently

Police decided to issue a warning after an incident in Mitchell Street at South Moor, where a door was left open in an empty house for more than 30 hours.

A thief entered through an unlocked door, between 12.40pm on Monday, April 8, and 8pm on Wednesday, April 10, and stole various items of jewellery, which had been left on a kitchen work top.

Items taken were a gold bracelet worth £800, a necklace, several rings, a gold crucifix and an imitation gold watch.

Two similar crimes occurred last Saturday, when two houses in Shield Row, just outside Stanley, were targeted.

A purse was stolen from a house in Wylam Terrace and shortly afterwards a mobile phone was stolen in Barn Hill. Both homes had been left insecure.

Other incidents include a house burglary in King Street, South Moor, where once again thieves entered through an unlocked front door. They stole a bag containing a purse and cash cards.

On another occasion a house in Westfields in South Stanley was burgled while the occupant was in the garden. The thief entered through the front door and stole a handbag.

Det Con John Speight, of Stanley CID, said thieves are being given too many easy opportunities.

He said: "It only takes a few seconds for someone to come into your home, grab whatever they can find and get away without even being seen.

"Now the weather is getting warmer and people are spending more time outside and in the garden it is vital to remember the need for house security."