A WOMAN is warning residents to be on their guard after her locked car was broken into in a spree of similar car crimes.

Sally Newton, 33, of Repton Grove off Western Approaches, Eastwood, said hers was one of about 20 properties targeted over a single weekend earlier this month, in which locked cars were stealthily broken into, though many did not have any items stolen.

Mrs Newton said her car was broken into at about 3.30am on Monday, November 9, though she was not made aware until 6am when a neighbour called to say the doors and boot of the vehicle were open.

She said: “We were up when all of a sudden my husband’s phone rang and the next door neighbour said ‘do you realise your car door and boot are all open?’ and a few of our neighbours had been done as well.

“The car was definitely locked but there’s been no damage, so I don’t know if this person’s used a fob or something, because a few other people have said their cars were definitely locked, too.

“Nothing was stolen, which is strange, because my husband had his satnav in there and a few drills, but maybe they weren’t expensive enough.”

She added one neighbour, who works in security, had a large amount of equipment stolen from his car on nearby Shepard Close – but also managed to catch the suspect on CCTV.

Eastwood community campaigner Paul Collins said many residents were frightened by the scale of the crime spree.

He said: “Everyone is very scared and frightened at the moment and we feel the police are under resourced and focusing on the town centre, which is making us in Eastwood a soft target to those who want to do harm.

“This has happened in areas which are about a quarter to half a mile apart and what worries me is I get the impression this is an organised thing.

“Some people are saying their cars were locked, too, which is very worrying because we often bang on at people at community meetings asking them to make sure everything’s locked, but people’s alarms didn’t even go off.”