Amazingly, latest statistics support the conclusion that the warnings are being ignored.

In the first five months of the year, thieves forced their way into almost 1,000 vehicles in the city – about 50 a day.

It might be something of a nuisance hiding it away, but leaving a sat-nav system, for example, on view in a car – whether it is parked outside your home or somewhere public, day or night – is just too good an opportunity to be wasted by the city's thieves. Even a handful of change will do.

But it is not just the cost of replacing the stolen items, there is the inconvenience of having the car repaired and the likely effect on insurance premiums.

Car crime is not going to go away. The police have their role to play, and operations targeting known prolific thieves do work, by taking them off the streets short-term.

But motorists should not shy away from their own responsibilities, particularly when it is so simple: remove the temptation and you pretty much remove the probability of a crime.

School pool yobs are a disgrace

Parents, children and staff at March's Westwood Junior School are rightly proud of their outdoor pool – the only one in the town and funded by themselves.

So it must be all the more heartbreaking for them to learn that yobs have ran amok, putting it out of action.

Those responsible should be ashamed of themselves spoiling school life for impressionable youngster.