Car theft is on the increase and even those who have the foresight to install a tracker device to their vehicle do not always get what they regard as a satisfactory response from the police.

Recent research by Kent Online using Freedom of Information requests found the number of vehicle thefts across Kent jumped threefold since 2018, but conversely only one in 20 cars stolen was ever returned to the owner.

But there is one firm that could help. My Close Protection (MCP) offers what its owner says is the only service of its kind in the country.

The Higham-based company will not only secure a hidden tracker device in your vehicle but will also monitor its wherabouts 24 hours a day, seven days a week from its secure control room on an industrial estate.

The company’s owner and founder, Mick Anderson, 48, said: “A lot of people have a tracker linked to an app on their mobile phone. That’s of limited use because most thefts take place at night while the owner is asleep. By the time he wakes up and checks his phone, it’s too late.”

By then, the thieves will often have found and removed the tracker, or the vehicle will already have been broken up in a chop shop.

Mr Anderson said: “Most companies fit their tracker to the car’s OBD (On-Board Diagnostic) port. That’s the first place thieves look.

“We hard-wire our trackers in and hide them where the thief won’t find them. Then we have a control that monitors where the car is at all times.

“If it suddenly leaves the drive at 3am, we first phone the owner to see if it has been stolen, and if it has, we have a mobile control unit that we can send out at once to recover the vehicle.”

Asked what happens if his team find the stolen vehicle with the thief still in it, Mr Anderson of Old Road East, Gravesend, who also works as a personal bodyguard, said: “We all have plenty of experience in security; we are not afraid of a little confrontation.”

Mr Anderson’s firm, which was founded in 2017, currently has 103 vehices under its protection. Many of them are high-end BMWs , Audis and Range Rovers, but the company also protects construction plant and agricultural machiney, which are also a popular target for thieves.

The service is not cheap – it costs £399 for 12 months’ cover, but Mr Anderson said: “What we offer is a bespoke service with 24-hour cover that you can’t get anywhere else.”

To find out more about the MCP Tracker company, visit its website here.

The firm also sells individual trackers that can be worn by the elderly or those suffering from dementia, which again are monitored 24 hours a day.