Police have made an arrest following a spate of thefts from vehicles in Harold Wood.

Despite a "significant decrease" of year-on-year vehicle offences, recent reports show a spate of thefts from cars in the neighbourhood - there were 12 reports of the crime in February alone.

From November 2020 to January this year, the Met Police recorded just 13 instances of theft from motor vehicles, compared with 29 for the same period in 2020.

Sgt Richard Ruane for Harold Wood said: "The vast majority of thefts from motor vehicles are reported with no damage to vehicles.

"Theft from motor vehicle tends to be an opportunistic crime and the easiest way to reduce the numbers initially is to ensure that your vehicle is locked and that valuables are not left visible.

"The police cadets often help out by attending areas where we are having issues and help to give feedback to local residents and provide crime prevention advice and the ward teams complete hotspot patrols both in uniform and plain clothes to try and target offenders.

"These type of offences can be reported in spates, where an individual can commit multiple thefts."

One male has been arrested on suspicion of stealing items from cars and police have recovered property.

The area has also seen a handful of cars being stolen - from November 2020 to January 2021, 15 vehicles were taken.

Over the same period from 2019 to 2020, there were 19 instances of the crime, a decrease of four overall.

On March 10 and 11, the Met Police and Essex Police made 21 arrests and recovered seven stolen vehicles as part of a cross-border initiative, Operation Gambler.

The operation was set up in 2019 after police noted a sharp spike in the number of cars stolen in Essex being dumped in Havering, Rainham, Cranham and Harold Hill.

Since its inception, there have been hundreds of arrests, convictions, stolen vehicles, drugs and weapons recovered from the respective force areas.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Harold Wood ward policing team on 0208 721 2509 or email HaroldWood.snt@met.police.uk.