MOTORISTS in West Kent are being warned not to leave valuables in view after a mini-crimewave of thefts from cars. Thirteen break-ins to cars were reported across the area in a five-day spell from Tuesday to last Sunday.

In the most serious incident, a man snatched a handbag from a car as it was being driven by a 76-year-old woman in Wrotham on Saturday. The motorist, who was with her 74-year-old sister, was parking her car at the Holiday Inn, London Road, at about 3.30pm when a white man in his early 20s, wearing a woolly hat and a dark jacket, opened the back door and snatched the bag.

Wrotham was the worst hit village over the period, with a total of three thefts in four days. The other two incidents both happened on Wednesday, January 16 - the first when a Compaq laptop computer valued at £2,000 was snatched from a blue Peugeot 306, parked outside the Rose and Crown Pub, High Street, between 7pm and 7.55pm.

At about the same time, a leather rucksack and its contents, worth £600, was taken from a green Volkswagen Lupo parked outside the Village Hall, High Street.

Other crimes reported in the area included a briefcase stolen from a Ford Mondeo parked in Church Lane, East Peckham, between 3pm and 7pm on Saturday, January 19. Later that night, a wallet was taken from a Renault Espace parked in Chelsfield Close, Hadlow, near Tonbridge.

A West Kent police spokesman said: "We advise motorists not to leave any items of value, including cheque books and credit cards, in their vehicles and to ensure cars are properly secured when unattended."

Anyone with information on the thefts should call West Kent Police on 01732 740055 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.