Hopefully you enjoyed the festive period and were lucky enough to receive a ‘must have' present or been able to treat yourself to a bargain in the sales.

Most of us love a bargain but please be mindful who you buy them from. Aside from genuine retailers, if a deal looks to good to be true, it probably is. If thieves were unable to sell their stolen goods there would be little point in them stealing them! And by the way, if you take possession of stolen goods believing them to be so, you commit an offence and could be arrested.

The obvious times to be suspicious are when approached in the street or public place or even from someone knocking your door trying to sell items. Other ways may be less obvious but often you’ll have a suspicion or feeling something is not quite right. If you are not sure, don’t buy!

This is particularly relevant at the moment as unfortunately the last month of 2013 saw an elevated number of thefts from vehicles. The thieves have no doubt made efforts to sell what they have stolen.

I am convinced that some of these crimes could have been prevented as disappointingly a large proportion of the vehicles were left unlocked or with property clearly left in view. Please lock your vehicles, even when on your drive, and remove valuable items.

On the subject of security you should also keep your house doors and windows secure and consider using timer switches to deter would-be burglars.

If you ever have any information about persons selling or receiving stolen items or are offered suspect items please call West Mercia Police on our non-emergency number 101 or ring the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

INSPECTOR PAUL CROWLEY, KIDDERMINSTER POLICE