Car thieves sneak into homes to steal keys

GANGS of professional thieves who sneak into homes to steal the keys to luxury cars have made off with £80,000 worth of vehicles in just three days.

• Five vehicles have been stolen by thieves who enter unsecured homes and take car keys

Detectives are on the trail of the two groups who scour streets and driveways of the city for high-end cars before slipping into the homes of owners through unlocked doors and windows.

The gangs primarily target unsecured homes in Edinburgh, but also look for potential victims across the Lothians.

In a spate of incidents since Sunday, a Mercedes CDI worth around 20,000 and an Audi A4 worth 19,000 have been among five vehicles taken.

Police today warned owners to make sure their properties are secured and that car keys are not left in easily found locations.

Some of the stolen cars are sold on while others are used in crime as getaway vehicles.

Detective Sergeant Gavin Cameron, from the force's stolen vehicle unit, said: "There are two groups of thieves operating in the Edinburgh area who are targeting unsecured homes and stealing car keys.

"They are likely to be operating in groups of two or three. In some of the thefts two cars were stolen from the same property, and there may be a driver in another car as well.

"They are going after high-end vehicles and we've seen a number of Audis and BMWs being stolen. We've recovered a number of vehicles, with the Mercedes stolen on Sunday already having been found."

As well as searching for ignition keys, they are also stealing goods such as TVs and laptops, cash and jewellery.

The silver Mercedes CDI and a black Alfa Romeo saloon, which was valued at 10,000, were stolen from Plewlandcroft in South Queensferry in the early hours of Sunday morning after the thieves stole both sets of keys from the owner's home.

The next theft came overnight between Sunday night and Monday morning in Redford Loan when the red Audi A4 was stolen. The suspects also made off with a number of laptop computers.

In the third incident this week, thieves entered a property in Broomyknowe between Tuesday night and yesterday morning and stole the keys to a grey Land Rover Discovery, valued at 18,000, and a blue Volkswagen Golf, worth 9000.

In another theft linked to an opportunist thief rather than the two gangs, a silver Transit van worth 9000 was stolen in Duddingston Road West at around 6.30am yesterday, after the driver left the keys in the ignition while making deliveries in the area.

In June, the two gangs were responsible for the theft of at least four top-end vehicles - collectively worth more than 141,000 - in a matter of weeks. The haul included a Mercedes E280, Audi Q5, BMW 5 series and a Range Rover.DS Cameron added: "We would urge residents to ensure that their doors and windows are properly secured because the thieves are targeting homes which have been left vulnerable. On some occasions, they have managed to get through hopper windows which are only about 14in by 8in in size.

"We are not expecting owners to lock their car keys up in safes, but advising that they are not left in easily accessible places like the hall or on kitchen worktops."