MOTORISTS are being urged to keep their vehicles safe after two van break-ins in Flintshire.

South Flintshire’s police inspector Steve Owens told the Leader that the force has received two reports of van break ins on Tuesday, February 4.

The Leader has been told that between 5.30pm and 6.30pm on Tuesday afternoon, a van was broken into at Deeside Leisure Centre with tools reported as stolen

Another report was logged from Hawarden High School were a workman’s van had been broken into between 6pm and 7pm. Reports on the police log say that nothing was thought to be taken from the van.

He said: “It is rather unusual that these happened during the early evening as these incidents tend to happen during the night or early hours when criminals assume less people will be around to catch them in the act.

“It is still dark towards the later end of the afternoon so people may be taking their chances under darkness so it is worthwhile for motorists to be aware at all times as these incidents can happen at any time.”

Anyone with information that could help the police with their investigations should contact 101 and quote the following reference codes; Deeside Leisure Centre (Y016452) or Hawarden High School (Y016439).

The Inspector referred to advice available on the North Wales Police website with tips for motorists about keeping their property safe as their site states workmen’s vans are an increasingly popular target for thieves.

The advice reads: “It is not usually the van itself that's stolen – it is the contents in the back, often expensive power tools. It is easy for us to advise you to empty the van every night and re-load it in the morning, but we realise this is not always practical.”

The site gives a short list of advice on how to make a van and its contents less of a target:

• Store tools in secure cabinets or boxes within the van

• Add supplementary locks to the existing locks - the more a thief must do to break in, the more likely they are to move on to an easier target. There are a wide range available, including deadlocks for the doors and high security padlocks and hasps for the cargo doors

• Park so that any vulnerable doors are up against solid objects - this will restrict access and make it harder for anyone to break in

• Thieves know the weak points of various makes of van - research yours so you can take appropriate measures