A HOODED thief — caught helping himself to property inside cars — is being hunted by police.

The criminal stole from five vehicles in Egerton between June 18 and 19 — four of them had been left unlocked.

A resident in Conisber Close caught this man on camera – he is believed to be responsible for all of the thefts.

Det Insp Charlotte Cadden, from Bolton North Integrated Neighbourhood Policing Team (INPT), said: “We are putting a lot of resources and effort into tackling car crime — which includes hotspot patrolling, arresting prolific offenders and intensive offender targeting with our partners.

“The missing piece of the jigsaw is the resident. We really need help from the public in removing their stuff from their cars.

"This would cut car crime massively and prevent more people losing items that contain personal information like family photos and contact details and items they need for work.”

Property stolen from cars in Lower Mead, Shorefield Mount, Lowstern Close and Conisber Avenue, included a Tom Tom sat nav, a Blackberry mobile phone, a Julien McDonald coat, a grey uniform and a dog lead.

Police from Bolton North INPT are patrolling car crime hotspots, locating insecure cars with items on view and asking the owner to protect their property by removing it.

People who can identify the hooded thief or think they know who it is are asked to call police on 0161 856 5761 or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.