A WARNING sensor reminding householders to be wary about doorstep strangers is part of a toolkit being distributed to crime reduction partners and police officers today.

Once fitted behind a door, the passive infra red device calls out crime prevention messages whenever someone goes to open the door.

The National Distraction Burglary Taskforce has organised a conference for senior staff in a range of agencies, at Sunderland's Stadium of Light today.

All delegates will get a "good practice toolkit" containing the device, as well as two videos which can be shown to elderly people and a range of research, best practice and training materials.

Police, health professionals, voluntary sector groups and local authorities have been invited to the conference.

A six-month operation in the Northumbria Police area last year halved house burglaries involving people being distracted by bogus callers.

Between April 1 and September 20 last year, there were 72 reported crimes, 12 arrests and ten detections compared with 250 reported offences, 158 arrests and 102 detections in the previous six months.

The operation resulted in a number of arrests leading to conviction and custodial sentences.