POLICE are warning people to keep their doors and windows locked after a spate of sneak-in thefts.
PC Steve Drabik, crime prevention officer with Langbaurgh police, in east Cleveland, said thefts were regularly occurring while people were in their back gardens, leaving the doors and windows to their homes unlocked.
He said: "The opportunist thief does not knock and can be out of the house in seconds," he said.
"They look for easy targets and if obstacles are put in their way they wander on.
"The answer is simply shut up your home and you will shut out this type of crime.
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