POLICE will target hardened criminals as part of a major crackdown on car crime in East Lancashire.

The move comes after it was revealed auto theft and stealing from cars costs people living in the area more than £5 million every year.

Officers in the division covering Blackburn, Darwen, Hyndburn and the Ribble Valley will run an anti-crime drive named Operation Elite over the next 12 months.

Last year 1,200 cars were stolen and 3,330 vehicles broken into in the area. The initiative, to be launched on Tuesday, has the backing of local organisations, councils and Blackburn Rovers.

Police aim to turn up the heat on serial offenders in Blackburn at the start of the clampdown but the operation will then spread to the whole of the area covered by Eastern Division.

As well as alerting the public to the dangers of leaving their vehicles unlocked or with expensive items in them, hardened criminals will be targeted.

High profile patrols will also be used in car crime blackspots and people known for handling stolen property will also be targeted. Sergeant Debbie Howard will be in charge of the operation.

She said: "We are well aware that a small minority of people are responsible for a lot of car crime in the division.

"We have been gathering information and intelligence and these people and will be targeting them throughout the campaign.

"The aim is to transfer the fear of crime from the victim to the offender."

A publicity blitz is also being planned with hundreds of posters and leaflets being distributed across the area.

Sergeant Howard added: "Car crime makes up more than 27 per cent of crime in the division more than any other kind of crime.

"Although we are no different to any other part of the country in terms of car crime it is still an area we take very seriously.

"One of our main targets in the coming year is to reduce the level of car crime in the borough."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.