TRACKER devices put in car stereos and "trap" vehicles are being used to help police stay on the trail of auto crooks.

The system sends out a signal which can be followed in the force helicopter or in cars by police using a hand-held device.

And police have revealed that "trap" vehicles are being used where car criminals are targeting vehicles on pub car parks in the Rossendale Valley.

Anyone breaking into those cars will find themselves locked inside until police arrive to arrest them.

PC Philip Buck, one of the five-men team involved in Operation Freedom, said: "Whoever steals property containing the tracker system can be followed.

"I cannot say at this stage how many of these devices we have got or just where they will be deployed. "But I can warn people who steal from cars that they will certainly be in use and will help us to catch them."

In the last three weeks of Operation Freedom, aimed specifically at all aspects of vehicle crime, recorded offences in Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale have been cut by 69 per cent on the same three weeks of last year, saving scores of people from the problems of being a car crime victim.

The operation was continuing with more warrants being executed on people suspected of handling stolen property.

Owners of Vauxhall Novas have been warned to take special precautions against the theft of their vehicle. Sgt Masterman said: "They are particularly vulnerable. They are being stolen, stripped for parts and taken to remote areas including Barley, Sabden and Thursden valley where they are set on fire."

Officers visited car parks at local picnic and beauty spots over the Easter weekend handed out advice on how to prevent becoming a victim of car crime.