MOTORISTS who leave themselves open to theft by making vehicles "display cases on wheels" are being targeted in a new initiative.

From the weekend, Cleveland Police will work with local authorities to identify vehicles parked with items like shopping, coats and bags on show.

Police officers, traffic wardens and car park attendants will note registration numbers and vehicle owners will be sent letters giving crime prevention advice.

The campaign, which will run throughout Teesside until January 12, follows a successful pilot scheme run in Middlesbrough last year.

Crime prevention officer, Gerry McBride, said motorists were grateful for the warnings.

"While there were difficulties, such as with owners changing their cars and people having hire cars, we did get a lot of letters from people saying 'I'm terribly sorry. Thanks for bringing this to my attention'," he said.

Mr McBride said people often do not realise the risk of leaving personal belongings on show.

"To the criminal, a vehicle is simply a large glass display case on wheels," he said.

"We are talking about opportunist thieves, and to them, it's worth smashing the window if there's a coat because there might be something underneath it. Even if there isn't, they'll take the coat."

Mr McBride said it took thieves only seconds to complete break-ins, sometimes using tools like life hammers, designed for people trapped in cars, and spring-loaded centre punches, for marking out metal for drilling.

"The most common items stolen are stereos and CD players, mobile phones, handbags and briefcases, credit cards and vehicle documents," he said.

"Obviously, we have hot- spot car parks, but thefts can happen anywhere, so we are looking at parked cars throughout the area."

There were an estimated 9,000 thefts from vehicles in the Cleveland force area last year, and Mr McBride said Christmas was the worst time.

"December is probably the worst month, as people leave Christmas presents in their cars," he said.

He urged people to always ensure they leave their vehicles secure, even if they are only leaving them for a short time.