GARDAI are urging motorists to lock their vacant vehicles, amid a raft of thefts from cars across Cork city and county.

In recent weeks, several cars have been targeted in east Cork, particularly in the Carrigtwohill and Midleton areas.

The thieves are targeting cash, bank cards and other valuable items left in parked cars.

And in two incidents last week, two cars were stolen from Ashbrook and Oakbrook in Castlelake, Carrigtwohill in the early hours of January 25.

Garda said that there have also been a number of houses burgled in the same areas recently.

Last month, cars targeted in the west of the city had credit and debit cards stolen from them. They were used shortly afterwards in contactless transactions.

There were 445 incidents of thefts from cars in the first ten months of 2017, compared with 462 in the same period last year. This was an increase of 4%.

Gardai advise motorists to always ensure their vehicles are locked and to never leave valuable items in them when unoccupied.

They also advise motorists to park in a secure, well-lit location and to have the motorists alarmed.

And gardaí stress that keys should be stored safely, away from view through either windows or letterboxes.

There were a number of instances last year where keys were left in cars and they were stolen.

The vehicles were found crashed – including one high-end car taken during a burglary in Blarney.

The car was found crashed and burnt out a short distance away from where it was stolen.

And in Glanmire in August, a 07 Opel Corsa was one of seven cars targeted by thieves in residential estates in the area. Small items were taken from the other six.

However, the keys of the Opel Corsa were on the floor of the car and the raiders stole it. It was recovered shortly afterwards in the Tower area. In each of the seven cases, the cars were unlocked.

Anyone with information is asked to contact either Cobh or Midleton gardaí on (021) 4908530 or (021) 4621550.