Motorists urged to attend car-crime clinics

Motorists in Rochdale are being urged to attend a series of car-crime clinics to combat registration plate theft.

The first will take place at Rochdale Football Club on Saturday 26 July from 2pm to 6pm, and will be supervised by officers from the Rochdale North Neighbourhood Policing Team.

There have been 64 number plates stolen across the borough since the start of April, and police say the increase in fuel prices is causing more criminals to drive off from petrol stations without paying.

The stolen plates help criminals to clone other cars, and victims might not be aware of what has happened until speeding and parking tickets start arriving in the post. They can then have difficulty convincing authorities that it was not their car being used.

To tackle the problem, a ‘Safe Plate Day’ has been organised, where police community support officers will fit special one-way screws to registration plates free of charge.

The screws, which cannot be easily removed, are then covered with a security cap as an added deterrent.

Inspector James Troisi of the Rochdale North Neighbourhood Policing Team said: “I would urge people to attend the clinic, because having these screws fitted is a simple measure that will reduce the risk of cars being targeted. Also, it costs nothing, doesn’t damage the car and could save people a lot of money and heartache in the long term.”

Details of car-crime clinics taking place in August are as follows:

• Friday 8 and Saturday 9 August – ASDA, Dane street, Rochdale from
  10am to 6pm. 
• Friday 15 August – Rochdale Football Club, Wilbutts Lane, Rochdale
  from 3pm to 8pm. 
• Tuesday 19 August – Lidl car park, Spotland Road, Rochdale from 10am
  to 2pm. 
• Friday 22 August – Dunelm car park, Whitworth Road, Rochdale from
  10am to 2pm.