POLICE are urging motorists to be vigilant after five catalytic converters were stolen from vans across Darlington.

It follows an incident several weeks ago in which four converters were stolen from refrigerated vehicles at a transport company at Morton Park, costing the business around £10,000 to replace them all.

Investigating officer Detective Constable Phil Collingwood said: “We firmly believe that the catalytic converters are being sold on for scrap because the metals used in them are worth quite a lot of money.

“The trouble with this type of crime is that the vans are often owned by small independent traders who are then forced off the road and miss out on business because their vehicles have been left unusable.

“It can be crippling for these businesses and we would urge anybody who sees anybody acting suspiciously around vehicles to get in touch with us.”

The latest round of thefts happed on Friday night and were spread across the North Road, Albert Hill, Firthmoor and Park East areas.

The vehicles targeted were all Mercedes Sprinter vans.

Anyone who can help the police with their investigation should ring 101 and ask for DC Collingwood.