By RACHEL SPENCER

A SPECIALISED unit set up to slash vehicle crime is waging a war against the town's worst hot spots and car crooks.

Headed by Sgt Matt Durcan, five officers in the car crime unit set up last July have dedicated the past nine months to targeting prolific car criminals and handlers of stolen goods and keeping a close watch on travelling thieves coming in from Manchester and Liverpool to steal cars.

Initially, the team targeted people breaking into cars to steal goods to sell for drugs. These were regular offenders, often breaking into cars on a daily basis.

Now, three of the town's biggest culprits, responsible for more than 200 car crimes in the past nine months, have been arrested, charged and jailed, and batches of stolen property have been recovered.

Travelling criminals who make a living out of stealing and cash in on the motorway network as an escape route in high-powered cars are also dealt with, and surveillance operations are set up to target specific areas once they become hot spots for car crime.

In February this year, 48 vehicles were recovered, mainly in Merseyside and Greater Manchester, out of 79 recorded stolen.

In 2000, £467,000 worth of vehicles were recovered in the Warrington division the highest in Cheshire.

Sgt Durcan says that victims now get a better service from the police.

"It has worked well in that the prolific offenders have been arrested and we have made it a lot harder for them to commit crime at the rate they did before," he said.

"We try to deal with things more efficiently and deliver a better quality of service, and prevent crimes from happening again."

But he is also asking car owners to play their part in stopping themselves becoming victims.

Car keys should be kept out of view of windows and letterboxes to stop thieves hooking them up and driving off in top cars, and valuables should not be left lying around in parked cars to tempt thieves.

Anyone with information on vehicle crime or stolen goods in Warrington can contact the unit in confidence on 01244 613886 or Crimestoppers, again in confidence, on 0800 555 111.