ONE thousand free car-crime prevention packs are to be handed out to tackle a rising number of vehicle break-ins.

Figures for serious crime in Hyndburn are falling - but the recent increase in car crime is slowing the downward trend.

The scheme, launched by the Hyndburn Community Safety Partnership (CSP), aims to match the good work done targeting violent crime, burglary and robbery.

The main areas of concern are thefts of satellite navigation systems and other expensive electrical items.

The packs, which are available at police stations and council offices in the borough, contain crime prevention literature, ultra-violet property marking pens and promotional window stickers.

They all feature the slogan: "Keep it safe, keep it hidden, keep it locked".

Mark Bates from the CSP said that windscreen cloths to remove tell-tale marks left on windows from satellite navigation systems also formed part of the packs.

He said: "Thefts from vehicles, particularly SatNav systems, have really snowballed recently and it is something we are keen to put a lid on.

"We don't want people to even leave a mark on the windscreen where the equipment has been because thieves will break-in just to look if they think a SatNav might be in the glovebox."

The CSP has now secured funding worth £1,300 from Halfords, the travel accessories store, to pay for the packs.

Coun Brian Roberts, chairman of the CSP, said: "Over the past few years there has been a steady increase in the theft of power tools from vans and SatNav systems from people's cars.

"It is a major area of concern."

The Hyndburn Com-munity Safety Partnership was set a three-year government target in 2004 to reduce the borough's crime by 15 per cent.

The base line figure for recorded crime in 2003/04 was 5,648 incidents. This has now dropped to 4,933, a reduction of 12.7 per cent - or 715 fewer victims of crime.

Community initiatives and higher visibility policing are behind a large drop in the number of crime victims in Hyndburn As well as the car-crime prevention packs, police will be targeting vehicle crime hotspots with extra enforcement to identify and catch prolific offenders.