A fifth of thefts from motor vehicles over the last year were from those left unlocked by their owners.

Police have released the statistics to urge car-owners to lock thieves out of the vehicles as part of a campaign to drive down car crime in Airedale and North Bradford.

Officers have said 530 thefts from vehicles – about 20 per cent – over the past 12 months were from unlocked cars.

Last month police started an operation to target vehicle crime.

Detectives have said they have started to make headway in tackling the issue. Detective Chief Inspector Steve Thomas, of Airedale and North Bradford CID, said: “We are starting to make an impact in tackling vehicle-related crime and are beginning to see slight falls in offending levels emerging.

“What we need to continue this, however, is the assistance of drivers and are asking them all to make sure they lock their cars. Leaving a car unlocked, even if only for a few minutes while at a petrol station, just makes a gift of any property for an opportunist thief.”

Specialist officers are deployed at key roads in the area with Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras to target vehicles driven on stolen number plates.

Police have also mounted checkpoints and officers will try door handles of vehicles on patrol.

For information on how to contact your neighbourhood policing team visit westyorkshire.police.uk/npt.