POLICE are using a sting operation to target criminals who steal from cars.

Darlington police have been placing vehicles with items on view in areas of the town that have high levels of car crime.

Officers then keep the vehicle under surveillance in the hope of catching thieves on closed-circuit television.

Two 14-year-old youths, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, admitted stealing a handbag from a vehicle left in Harris Street by police on October 17.

It took them only six seconds to smash the car window, grab the handbag and ride away on their bikes.

The youths appeared in court on Friday and were given three-month referral orders. Their parents were ordered to pay £50.74 each, to cover the cost of the case, the stolen handbag and damage to the car.

Detective Constable Mark O'Brien, of Darlington police, said: "These arrests have meant the word has gone around in that area of town that we are operating a sting operation, so the numbers of smash and grabs have reduced.

"But crime pattern analysis shows they are targeting compact disc players now, taking them from cars overnight, so we will be setting up sting operations to target these types of crimes as well."

The sting operations are part of Operation Caraway, which began in April in an effort to reduce the number of thefts from cars.

Det Con O'Brien said that in April police recorded more than 140 such crimes, while in October, when the sting operations started, that number fell to 113.

"At the moment this type of sting operation is only being done in the Darlington area, nowhere else in the constabulary," he said.

"We have targets to reach and we needed to push the numbers of thefts from cars down.

"Six people have been arrested so far in the sting operations and numbers of these crimes have plummeted in those areas we are targeting."