Cars taken while thawing

POLICE chiefs are warning motorists to take care when defrosting their vehicles after 30 cars were stolen across Greater Manchester in the first week of the new year — including six yesterday morning.

Three were taken in Oldham and two in Tameside — all in the early hours when drivers have left their vehicles unattended with keys in the ignition and engines running.

Chief Inspector Haydn Roberts, of Greater Manchester Police’s Traffic Network Services, said: “It is not only high-powered vehicles that are targeted and so our advice to all drivers is to stay in their vehicle when defrosting.”

“Motorists should also remember that insurance companies may not pay out if vehicles are stolen after being left unattended with the keys in the ignition.”