A spate of car thefts took place near Tonbridge last week.

Kent police received reports of five offences taking place in Hildenborough overnight between Tuesday, December 17 and Wednesday, December 18.

A sixth took place between Sunday, December 15 and Wednesday, December 18 and vehicles parked in residential roads around Brookmead and Elm Grove have been targeted.

Four were incidents of theft while two were attempted thefts where nothing was taken.

Items removed include three sat-nav systems, a power drill and a mobile phone plus small amounts of cash.

Most of the cars were Volkswagens, often several years old, where it is believed the door locks were punched out with a small tool although other vehicles may have been left insecure.

The Tonbridge and Malling Neighbourhood Policing Team now want to remind members of the public to remove all items of any value from their vehicles as placing them in a glovebox or the boot is not enough.

Insp Mark Hutcheon said: “This is additionally important over the next few days when people are buying Christmas presents and looking for places to store them before Christmas Day.

“Your car might seem a good place to keep presents away from loved ones but we advise all residents instead to find a suitably secure place in their home to keep gifts away from opportunist thieves too.”

“Vehicles should be always locked when unattended. Extra vigilance is encouraged at the moment and any suspicious events should be reported to Kent Police as soon as possible when it is witnessed so our officers can attend the scene.”

Neighbourhood officers can be called on 101 but use 999 if it is an emergency or a crime is in progress.