DRIVERS are being warned to take care while de-icing their cars after a vehicle was stolen when it was left with its engine running.

A Mercedes was stolen from outside a house in Chester-le-Street this morning.

The owner had left the car parked on the drive of the house in Derwentwater Avenue with the keys in the engine to clear frost from the windscreen.

He returned half an hour later to find it had been stolen. The car has yet to be recovered.

Chief Inspector Andy Huddleston, head of the Cleveland and Durham Specialist Operations Unit, said: "In order to save a couple of minutes de-icing vehicles, the temptation is for motorists to leave their cars unattended with the engines running, making them vulnerable to opportunist thieves.

"It takes two minutes to de-ice your car, but it can take two seconds for a thief to steal it.

"We are urging the public to take extra care and not give criminals an early Christmas present."