Parking

Your vehicle is at its most vulnerable when left unattended, whether it is in your driveway, in the street or within a car park.

The steps you take when you leave your vehicle could determine whether or not a thief views your vehicle as a potential target.

Please consider the following advice when you next park your car :

• If you have a garage, use it when you park your vehicle at home. If parking in a driveway, close any gates behind you and position your vehicle so that it is illuminated by either your own lighting or street lighting. If you have a movement activated sensor on your external house light, position it, if possible, to activate if someone approaches your vehicle in the drive.

• If you do park on the street, at home or elsewhere, choose well lit areas, preferably where there will be plenty of people walking past.

• Believe it or not almost 65% of break-ins to cars take place outside the home address so make sure you remove anything, whether valuable or not, or lock it in the boot.

• When using a car park, look for the Police Approved 'Park Mark' signs outside. These car parks have achieved high standards of design and management in order to make them safer. For car park details visit www.saferparking.com