Car thefts have risen nearly 20 per cent in St Albans since April.

Vehicle theft data from April 1 to July 16 has shown a 17.5 per cent increase in reported vehicle theft, with 67 thefts reported in the city over the last three months.

St Albans has seen a significant rise compared to its neighbours, with Stevenage and Welwyn Hatfield both seeing car thefts decreasing over the same period.

Last month, Herts police confirmed they were investigating a spate of car thefts in the city, while Home Office data recently showed that 72 per cent of vehicle thefts in Hertfordshire go unresolved.

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Nicola Chamberlain, Hertfordshire Constabulary’s Crime Prevention lead, said: “Thefts of vehicles have increased over the last few months, but some areas have been worse hit than others.

"Many of the vehicles targeted by thieves have been high value keyless entry vehicles, particularly during the evenings and overnight.

"We’re advising drivers to make sure vehicles are locked up before leaving them unattended and to consider using a good quality steering wheel lock, which is a great deterrent.

"If you have a keyless entry vehicle, use a signal blocking fob pouch (Faraday bag) and keep fobs and store any spare keys in a metal box when not in use, so that criminals can’t use signal relay devices to unlock and start your vehicle remotely."