When will Hertsmere motorists wake up to the fact that by leaving valuables visible in their parked cars they are effectively inviting thieves to break in?

Week in, week out, the pages of the Borehamwood Times are scattered with reports of laptop computers, golf clubs, power tools and more stolen from parked vehicles across the area.

In response to this year's Hertsmere community police report, which states that vehicle crime has risen by a staggering 26 per cent in Radlett and Bushey, a new partnership has been created by the Crime and Disorder Act.

But while this will see police and Hertsmere Borough Council unite to make the borough safer from March next year, drivers must also do their bit and employ some much-needed common sense.

At the end of the day there's only so much the police can do to prevent car crime from occuring -- they need you, the residents, to protect your possessions and help keep the criminals at bay.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000.Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.