CAR crime has fallen by a third in the county, amid a police crackdown on prolific offenders.

Wiltshire Police has seen the country’s steepest fall in the car crime rate, including thefts from cars. Reports fell by 28 per cent between 2017 and last year.

The force said it was targeting those responsible for the break-ins, but warned drivers not to be complacent.

A/Insp David Tippetts of Swindon South Police said: “We regularly issue crime prevention advice to our local communities encouraging them to be mindful of what they leave on display in their vehicles, particularly at many of our county’s beauty spots where we have in the past, seen spates of vehicle break-ins.

“People can often be complacent when visiting these areas, but it is important that we continue to raise awareness of opportunistic thieves. Leaving valuables on display is seen as an invite to those people who commit these types of crime.

“Despite these positive results, we will continue to target prolific offenders and put them before the courts to ensure justice is served.”

They included 39-year-old Vincent Sparkes, who last month was jailed for 20 weeks after he admitted trying car doors in east Swindon. One-armed Sparkes, who is known locally by his nickname Bandit, has a lengthy list of previous convictions - including for stealing from cars.

The Park South man, who was caught on CCTV by a neighbour who shouted "see you later, Vince", had denied he was trying the car doors in a bid to steal from the vehicles. Instead, he claimed he was trying to retrieve clothing from a friend’s car.

That claim found little favour with the police. Following his conviction, A/Insp Tippetts told the Advertiser: “If Sparkes continues to offend he will continue to be caught and put before the courts.”

Official Home Office figures, analysed by vehicle registration website click4reg.co.uk, show Wiltshire Police received 2,850 vehicle crime reports last year - equivalent to eight a day. That was down from 3,949 in 2017.

It meant the county force had the sharpest drop in vehicle crimes of any police force in the country. Wiltshire bucked the national trend, with car crime up two per cent across England and Wales.

Elie Fakhoury, click4reg.co.uk managing director, said: : “With the overall number of vehicle offences increasing from the prior year, it’s a crime which is really impacting drivers.

“It’s unfortunate, as many car owners spend a ton of time and money on maintaining all aspects of their vehicle to ensure it runs effortlessly and is roadworthy.”

For tips on protecting your vehicle, visit: www.wiltshire.police.uk/article/805/Beauty-spot-theft.