WHILE Kent Police has been commended for its success in cracking down on burglaries, it has emerged the force itself has regularly fallen foul of thieves.

Police helmets, hubcaps and number plates from patrol cars, mountain bikes, mobile phones and even handcuffs, together worth nearly £12,000, are all among items stolen from Kent Police in the last year and a half.

The force has succeeded in recovering only a handful and many of the crimes remain undetected.

The details of items stolen were disclosed in a response made under the Freedom of Information Act.

The list shows that one of the costliest losses was a police mountain bike. The £2,000 bike was stolen in March this year while an officer was on patrol in Shepway, Maidstone. The thief is still at large and the bike has not been recovered.

Police computer equipment has also proved a target for thieves.

A police lap top computer worth £2,500 was stolen from Medway in January and is still missing. Computer keyboards and other IT equipment worth £1,400 was stolen from Park Wood, Maidstone in October last year and that, too, has yet to be recovered.

Potentially more embarrassing are the items that have been stolen from police vehicles.

Two number plates were removed from a car on police business in Iwade, Swale, north Kent in February 2002. A police radio worth £200 was reported stolen from a car in Canterbury while four hub caps worth £80 were removed from a car on patrol in Meopham, Gravesend in March.

Police clothing worth several hundred pounds has also been stolen.

Thieves made away with a haul of two police jackets, gloves and a police cap from a car in Swale in March while a police officer in Thanet suffered the indignity of having his helmet stolen while on patrol in February.

The police were also left red-faced by the theft of a scene of crime box valued at £190 from Park Wood in Maidstone, while a pair of handcuffs worth £50 were stolen in January last year.

In a statement, Kent Police said: "Kent Police ensures that all expensive and desirable equipment is visibly marked as Kent Police property and, where appropriate, provided with locks and security cables so that unattended items, such as laptops, can be secured.

"The loss of any valuable equipment is always investigated and if there is any evidence of neglect, disciplinary action is taken."