DRIVERS are being warned to take extra care when their car is thawing out in the morning as new figures reveal 28 cars were reported stolen in January.

Police also investigated 106 thefts from motor vehicles in January.

There is usually a spike in vehicle crime at this time of year, because drivers are tempted to leave their cars with the engines running and the demist on for a few minutes before they set off for work.

Among the 1,452 crimes already recorded by police in January, 91 were burglaries and 10 were robberies.

The figures invariably will grow further, police say, as many incidents reported to police will not have been officially recorded as a crime yet.

Bolton is divided into three policing areas, with 516 crimes recorded in Bolton Central, 505 in Bolton North and 431 in Bolton South.

Bolton South, which covers Farnworth, Kearsley, Little Lever and Westhoughton, was the worst hit for car crime, with 15 vehicles stolen and 42 broken into.

Seven cars were stolen in Bolton North and six in Bolton Central.

Insp Wayne Readfern said car crime is not a more "significant" issue than usual but stressed the importance of people taking the right precautions as thieves will be on the lookout.

He said: "Criminals will take advantage of this so the public need to be mindful.

"Vehicle crime tends to rise whenever we get icy weather as people leave their vehicles running outside their houses to defrost the windows while they nip back inside the house.

"Criminals plan for this and will go out looking for these situations.

"A similar method is for the thieves to target newsagents and other shops.

"Again drivers will often pull up outside the shops first thing in the morning and leave the engine running because the vehicle has not warmed up properly.

"Numerous vehicles have been stolen over the years because of this."

An easy way to avoid the situation is to place a sheet or piece of card on windscreens the night before to stop ice forming on it.

In January 2014, there were a total of 212 vehicle crimes recorded across Bolton, with 74 in Bolton Central, 75 in Bolton North and 63 in Bolton South.

n OVER Christmas police in Bolton launched Operation Sherry to tackle "winter crime".

More than 20 incidents of shoplifting were reported during the operation — with 14 arrests made for thefts, assault and burglary.

Officers held 'Coffee with the Cops' events with PCs or PCSOs stationing themselves in town centre cafes to field questions from the public.

Safety items including cat bells, purse safety wires and stickers for windows have been handed out at the coffee mornings.

Officers also gave high visibility school bags to pupils using the Winter Wonderland ice rink to help them stay visible to drivers on dark winter nights.