Increased car theft risk in winter

Vehicle owners have been advised to put their car insurance in order due to an increased risk of theft during winter.

Figures from Tracker, Britain's leading provider of stolen vehicle recovery systems, show a 20 per cent rise in recoveries of stolen vehicles during the winter months compared to summer.

They compared monthly recovery figures between October 2006 and September 2009 and found November, January and February were the worst months of the year for car thefts.

Managing director Bill Raynal said: "Our figures show these extra hours of darkness allow more time for thieves to break into vehicles unseen.

"Thieves also appear to take a break at Christmas, just like the rest of us, with a 39 per cent decrease between Christmas Eve to New Years Day, compared to the week running up to Christmas."

He advised car owners to take "all the right security precautions".

The firm issued security tips including never leaving keys in the ignition even if the driver is just stopping quickly, never leaving a car unattended when de-icing or waiting for it to defrost and keeping doors locked and windows up when driving.

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