A CRACKDOWN on car crime has been launched by police after figures revealed a "massive increase" in certain areas.

Thefts of cars in Blackburn town centre are up 63 per cent in two months compared with the same period last year.

Stealing from vehicles is up eight per cent, the equivalent of an extra 37 break-ins.

And items recovered from offenders reveal thieves will target a car for a bottle of aftershave or perfume.

The initiative, codenamed Operation Esprit, will concentrate on crime hotspots in the town and extra officers have been drafted in.

Twelve people have been arrested in two weeks, 18 suspects have been interviewed and five houses have been searched.

Three of those who have been arrested were remanded in custody, three were charged with various offences and six are on police bail.

Detective Chief Constable Neil Smith, crime reduction co-ordinator for Eastern Division, said: "Vehicle crime is one of our biggest crime categories and this would appear to be a massive increase.

"It actually amounts to an extra 49 crimes and this is clearly unacceptable. We are taking very positive steps to reverse the trend."

The number of car thefts has gone up from 77 to 126 incidents in April to June this year compared with the same two months last year.

And last year there were 450 break-ins compared with 487 vehicles targeted this year for the same period.

Extra officers have been drafted in from the operational support unit, CID unit and traffic wardens to tackle the upward trend.

Property recovered from the offenders so far includes 15 car stereos, a camcorder, six mobile phones, perfume, aftershave and sports clothing, as well as small amounts of drugs believed to be crack cocaine and cannabis.

DS Neil Persechino, co-ordinating the operation, said: "There has been a rise in vehicle crime but this extra activity aims to bring that level right down.

"We will be using a number of tactics, including disrupting known offenders and increasing the number of officers on high visability patrol." Motorists are reminded not to leave any personal items visible in their cars. CCTV footage will also be studied during the campaign in a bid to spot known offenders.

Officers in Darwen have also been getting tough with Operation Enlighten, a weekend initiative which in contrast to Operation Esprit, used high visibility patrols and traffic wardens to identify potential targets for thieves.

Inspector Graham Ashcroft of Darwen Police, said one man saw an officer looking at his car and asked him what he was doing. The man had a suit hanging in the car, and a briefcase and mobile phone on view.