Police in Formby are reminding residents to lock up at night and when they go out after several opportunistic burglaries at the weekend.
Four burglaries were reported to the police on Saturday morning having happened night.
And in three of the incidents, the victims had left external doors unlocked allowing the burglar or burglars easy access to things like laptops, i-pads, handbags and cash inside.
Inspector Jim Atherton said police community support officers had visited each victim to offer crime prevention advice and leaflets warning other residents had been give out.
He said: “This is a particularly high number of burglaries to happen in one night and the offender or offenders may have been trying door handles to see if any front or back doors were unlocked. Unfortunately, in three of these four incidents they were unlocked and the burglar has taken advantage.
“Detectives are treating these incidents as linked and CCTV from the surrounding area is being analysed.
“Local people can help us beat the burglars by making sure their doors, windows, garages and cars are locked properly whenever they leave the house unattended or go to bed.
“It is an easy thing to forget to do but once you get into the habit of doing a quick check it doesn’t take much time at all and can save you a lot of distress and hassle in the long run.”
The first reported incident happened in Larch Way sometime between Friday night and Saturday morning. The victim left their car unlocked and the offender stole a set of house keys from inside the car and left themselves into the house. Fortunately they were disturbed by a dog barking and left empty-handed.
The second burglary happened between midnight and 6am on Saturday at a house in Harrington Road. A side door to the house was left insecure allowing a burglar to search a downstairs room and steal a handbag, purse and i-Pad.
The third occurred in St Peter’s Avenue at around 2.30am. The victim left the house to pick their daughter up following a night out and left the house insecure. They returned to find a HP laptop, an i-Pod, wallet and computer bag missing.
And the fourth was reported after a couple living in Squirrel Green returned from a weekend away to find a ground floor window had been forced open and a Sony laptop and cash stolen.
Inspector Atherton added: “It has been awful for all these people to fall victim to this kind of opportunistic crime and we are determined to do what we can to catch the culprits. Everyone can do their little bit to make life hard for these criminals by getting into the habit of good home security. And if anyone sees people acting suspiciously in their local area, particularly late at night or early in the morning, please report it immediately to 101.”
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