POLICE have been left baffled by a thief who appears only to target Citroen Saxo cars.

The offender has been on a crime spree in Chester-le-Street, but for reasons unknown to anyone, it seems he only targets the specific brand.

To add to the confusion, no-one knows how the thief is getting in, as there are no signs of forced entry on the vehicles.

As a result, police in the town have issued warnings to owners of the cars to be especially vigilant.

Crime Prevention Officer for Chester-le-Street, PC John Hedley, said in the last two weeks seven Citroen Saxos have been broken into. On most occasions, the car radio and CD player have been stolen, along with any items left inside, such as coats or bank cards.

The vehicles targeted have been parked in several different car-parks in the town.

PC Hedley said: "We don't know why, it's just one of those strange things that they're all Citroen Saxos.

"There's no other type of car being broken into.

"Unfortunately we don't know how they get into them, so we just want to warn people to be on their guard and not leave anything in their cars and to remove their CDs or radio if they can.

"It's obviously someone wandering round who doesn't like Citroen Saxos or feels they're an easy target."

Anyone with any information should contact PC Hedley at Chester-le-Street police on (0191) 388 4311.