Crime advice targeted on mobiles

Police want people to keep their doors locked during the day

Police in Lancashire are using Bluetooth technology to give people advice on how to prevent sneak-in burglaries over the summer.

Officers say a significant number of burglaries are a result of thieves getting into a house through insecure doors or windows.

Residents with the Bluetooth function enabled on their phones will receive the crime prevention messages.

The force said it was an "innovative" way to target the message.

Supt Bill McMahon, of Lancashire Police, said the onset of warmer weather usually signalled an increase in sneak-in thefts.

"As nearly everyone who has a mobile phone has access to Bluetooth, it is becoming a highly effective way of getting important crime prevention messages out," he said.

"People are more relaxed about security when they are at home. But while they are in the back garden or asleep, their property is just as vulnerable."

The advice includes keeping front doors locked during the day, as well as ground floor doors and windows at night.