Appeal for information after thefts of cars in Macclesfield area

Police are appealing for information following a number of thefts of cars in the Macclesfield area.

Between 8.40pm on Sunday 13 March and 3.50am on Monday 14 March, officers received five reports of keyless Range Rover thefts in the Alderley Edge and Wilmslow areas.

Two of the vehicles have since been recovered in the Greater Manchester area.

In the early hours of Saturday 19 March, a further report was received that a Range Rover had been stolen in the Wilmslow area.

Detective Inspector John O’Driscoll, who is leading the investigation, said: “A number of enquiries are currently underway to track down the people responsible and bring them to justice.

“We have a team of detectives working on these cases, alongside officers from response, CID, the local policing unit and our Roads and Crime Unit, who are being deployed to flush out anyone intent on committing crime in the area.

“I would appeal to anyone who may have any information about the car thefts to please contact us. The same goes to anyone who knows the identity of those responsible.”

Macclesfield’s Local Policing Commander, Chief Inspector Matthew Lagar, said: “I would like to reassure the community that we are relentless in our approach to pursuing those criminals who choose to target the hard-earned property of innocent members of the public.

“In this series of thefts, it has been confirmed that most of the vehicles were stolen without the need for a physical key – commonly referred to as keyless thefts or relay thefts where offenders are able to use devices that copy the signal of the typical key in order to gain access to the vehicle and start the ignition.

“Our local officers are active in the community and engaging with owners of Range Rover cars to provide crime reduction advice. I would urge anyone with any concerns to please speak to them as they will be able to assist.”

There are a number of measures that you can take to make life more difficult for car thieves. These include purchasing Faraday bags/boxes to store vehicle keys, which blocks the signals. Other measures to consider include driveway bollards, CCTV, steering wheel locks, and Ghost immobiliser systems.

Anyone with any information about these car thefts is asked to contact Cheshire Constabulary via the Cheshire Police website or by contacting 101 quoting occurrence number 22000178769.

Information can also be provided anonymously via calling Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or online via the Crimestoppers website.