The latest available figures from the Office for National Statistics – the UK’s largest independent producer of official statistics – show a 3% annual increase in vehicle offences in England and Wales (for the year ending September 2018), including a 10% increase in “theft or unauthorised taking of a motor vehicle”.

In short, if you think you don’t need to worry about car crime, think again.

Here are three of our top tips at SR Key Solutions on how to keep your car or commercial vehicle, and everything inside, as safe and secure as possible:

1. Check your vehicle is actually locked before you walk away. Electronic ‘key jammers’ which intercept the signal between a key fob and the car, leaving the car unlocked and vulnerable to theft, might sound like they only belong in US television dramas. Unfortunately, however, these devices are very real and in use across the UK. Lancashire, Merseyside and Greater Manchester are no exception. So whether you live in Skelmersdale, Southport, Liverpool, Wigan or anywhere in-between, take care. Watch for your car’s visual confirmation, perhaps a flash of the indicator lights, that a signal has been received. Better yet, physically check all your car doors and the boot are locked before you head off.
2. If you find yourself locked out of your car with a key inside, don’t try to break back in. You’ll almost certainly damage your vehicle and leave the car more vulnerable than before to criminal activity. Whenever you find yourself locked out of your car, call a professional auto locksmith.
3. Park sensibly. Yes, you might want to save money by leaving your vehicle in the street and not in that car park with a security patrol and closed-circuit television (CCTV). But leaving your car in a badly lit, empty back street is certainly a risk. If you return to find the vehicle has been broken into, or worse yet stolen, you’ll wish you’d spent a few pounds on the car park.