POLICE officers will be flooding into Burnley today to launch a month-long crackdown on vehicle crime.

Operation Fortress will run throughout October and is aimed at preventing crime, targeting criminals and detecting vehicle crime in Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale.

Officers will assemble at the Asda car park, Princess Way, Burnley, at 3pm today to raise awareness among the public and to deter and catch thieves.

This area has been identified as a hotspot for vehicle crime in the last few months where insecure cars in particular were targeted.

Officers will use a range of overt and covert tactics during the operation to tackle suspected offenders.

Police said they will be executing warrants and carrying out high visibility patrols in hotspot areas.

Automatic number plate recognition will be used to target travelling criminals and the division’s top ten car crime suspects will be visited.

Detective Inspector Jes Holland, who is leading the campaign, said: “Car crime remains low but we are determined to keep it that way. This operation is aimed at further reducing the number of these crimes and we will be doing a lot of work to prevent offences and target offenders.

“Our dedicated neighbourhood policing teams will be carrying out extra high visibility patrols in and around areas where there have been problems in order to help deter thieves and reassure residents.

“Having you car broken into can be costly and inconvenient but the chance of it happening can be significantly reduced if people simply make sure their vehicle is locked and remove valuables from display.”