MOTORISTS are being warned to be on their guard after thieves went on the rampage in Wilmslow, striking 15 times in less than three weeks.

The crooks took thousands of pounds worth of property from vehicles, including sat-navs, money and CDs.

In one afternoon a culprit broke into four vehicles at a busy Handforth hotel on Wilmslow Road.

Between 12.30pm and 1pm on Friday, October 10 a lone male cycled into the secure car park on a black and silver mountain bike and used a brick to smash the rear windows of the vehicles. He searched the cars before stealing a number of items and fleeing the site unchallenged.

A blue BMW 316 parked outside a house on Wilmslow Road, Handforth had its front and rear number plates stolen between 9.45pm on Tuesday, October 7 and 7am the following day.

Thieves stole a handbag after breaking into a Mitsubishi Charisma parked on a car park on Racecourse Road between 10.30am and 10.40am on October 6.

A badge was stolen from the bonnet of a vehicle parked on the owner’s drive on Broadway, in Wilmslow. The offender also stole caps from the front electric gate boxes before escaping unnoticed. The incident happened at around 8am on Saturday, October 4.

At around the same time another car parked on a drive on Broadway, in Wilmslow had its wing mirror smashed off. The offender put the mirror on the car bonnet and fled.

Between 1.10pm and 1.36pm thieves broke into a car on Lindow Lane, in Wilmslow. They smashed the front passenger window before escaping with a handbag from under the car seat.

Property was stolen from the rear window of a vehicle on Altrincham Road, in Styal. The incident happened between 4.30pm and 5.30pm on October 3.

On Brook Lane in Alderley Edge a saw was stolen from a vehicle at some time between 2.20pm and 4pm on October 2.

Goods were stolen from a van parked on Spath Lane in Handforth on September 24 between 8am and 12.30pm. And between 11.40am and 12.10pm on the same day thieves targeted a white transit van parked on The Paddock, in Handforth. They stole a sat-nav from the vehicle and escaped unnoticed.

Two vans parked on Macclesfield Road, Alderley Edge had the locks on the rear doors broken by thieves. The white Citroen Berlingo van and the white Citroen Dispatch were broken into between 3mp and 4pm on September 22.

Thieves fled with three drills from the back of one of the vehicles.

A police spokesman said: "We have to make it as hard as possible for criminals; if you leave things out on display, it is an open invitation to thieves."

Anyone with information on these crimes can call Wilmslow NPU on 0845 458 0000 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.