A POLICE crackdown has put the brakes on a recent wave of car crime.

Criminals travelling from Merseyside were targeting Widnes.

Particularly at risk from thieves were Fords and cars parked in the town centre.

After a surge in break-ins police launched an innovative and on-going operation.

"The effect of this operation has been to drastically reduce the number of offences back to an expected level - though not one to be complacent about," said Widnes police Insp Chris Clarke.

"A number of arrests have been made, particularly shop lifting teams coming into the town centre, and there have been a number of high speed chases."

Police tackled the car crime problem in several ways.

Uniform officers and Community Support Officers stepped up patrols, ran plain clothes operations at night, and an automatic number plate recognition cameras checked for suspicious vehicles coming into town.

And with the help of the company, the police contacted more than 5,000 Ford owners by post.

What makes the operation innovative and unusual is that it demonstrates the police's new way of working.

Plain-clothes specialist car crime officers are now working within the uniformed Community Action teams, tying in detective work to the needs of the community.

Insp Clarke said: "Crime is now being included in the agenda of community policing, rather than simply through CID and small plain clothes units."