Staffordshire car owners have been warned to be on their guard against car thieves operating in the area.

Cannock police have issued the alert after a spate of thefts and attempted thefts from vehicles in Heath Hayes.

Criminals struck four times over the weekend with thieves targeting sat nav equipment and other valuables.

Inspector Mat Derrick said that there had been a number of incidents involving cars and vans in and around the village in the past few days.

Read the full story in today’s Express & Star.

Staffordshire car owners have been warned to be on their guard against car thieves operating in the area.

Cannock police have issued the alert after a spate of thefts and attempted thefts from vehicles in Heath Hayes.

Criminals struck four times over the weekend with thieves targeting sat nav equipment and other valuables. In the first incident, thieves targeted a Fiat Doblo van in Millers Vale. They tried to force the rear door with a screwdriver between 6pm on Saturday and 7am the next morning.

On Sunday a Ford Transit van parked at Hednesford Raceway between 1pm and 6pm was broken into by having a side window smashed and a quantity of tools stolen.

On the same day thieves smashed their way into a Citroen van parked on the Martindale Industrial Estate after 11pm. It is not known what was stolen.

At around 1.30am yesterday the owner of a black BMW Three series vehicle spotted two people breaking into his car. They managed to make off with a sat nav system and a wallet from the car which was parked in Peterborough Drive, Heath Hayes.

Inspector Mat Derrick said that there had been a number of incidents involving cars and vans in and around the village in the past few days.

He said: “There are clearly offenders operating in this area and I would call for extra vigilance from residents and businesses.”

He also repeated previous warnings for owners not to leave items like sat navs and other objects of value on open display.

Anyone with information about any of the above incidents can contact Cannock police on 08453 302010 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.