In a week in which the West Yorkshire Police force was criticised for its poor showing in tackling burglary and car theft, news that a blitz against the latter is planned across the Bradford district is very timely.

In fact the findings of the report from Government inspectors was somewhat at odds with the situation in Bradford, where the number of house burglaries was recently reported to have fallen dramatically as part of a policy of targeting priority crimes.

It should be comforting for beleaguered car owners that the same policy is now to be adopted towards car crime. As well as using high-tech methods of identifying and stopping stolen cars, the police are also keen now to show that they care. Instead of victims being interviewed over the phone and given a crime number to report to their insurance company, they are promised a personal visit from investigating officers. It remains to be seen, though, how prompt that visit will be.

At the same time as they launch these new measures, the police are right to stress the precautions that car owners themselves can take. Such simple tactics as not leaving articles in view inside a car, using a crook lock, and hiding your car keys in the house can prove very effective.

And as one of the pro-active action co-ordinators for the district points out there can be a knock-on effect from this on home security. A would-be burglar who sees that a car parked down a drive is fitted with a crook lock might well assume that the householders are security conscious and move on to seek a victim elsewhere.