Motorists in the Gloucestershire area have been sent £5 to spend on car security as part of a promotion to reduce car crime.

The police in the area have teamed up with Halfords to offer up to 10,000 motorists the security vouchers.

Cars are being stolen at a rate of more than three per day in the county. Vehicles between two and five years old are now the most popular target for thieves as they lack the security systems of newer vehicles. The voucher offer is being concentrated on owners of vehicles most vulnerable to theft, as identified by the government’s car theft index.

Names and addresses of owners are taken from the national police database of vehicle registrations. The most commonly stolen cars include people carriers and 4x4s, such as the Range Rover and Toyota Rav4, as well as the Renault Mégane, Volkswagen Golf and Polo, Vauxhall Astra (below), Peugeot 306 and 106, the Rover 100 series, the Ford Fiesta and Citroen Saxo.

“Car crime in general is down in Gloucestershire but we’ve seen a rise in crime involving these particular vehicles,” said Paul Francis, a crime reduction officer.

The vouchers offer motorists £5 off when they spend £50 or more on a list of specified security products. Halfords says it plans to work with other police forces to offer similar schemes.

(Source: The Times)