Car owners have been warned over a "pattern" of thefts beginning to emerge in Merseyside.
Recent thefts of catalytic converters from vehicles have led police to fear a recurrence of a series of offences last summer. Merseyside Police also confirmed that people may not realise thieves are targeting cars as they "hide in plain sight" - sometimes wearing high visibility tabards.
This warning comes after a catalytic converter was stolen from Morrisons car park in Southport, prompting a renewed worry that thieves are now targeting cars in the area again as the weather improves. This has led to a warning being published on the Sefton Police Facebook page informing people about how these criminals operate.
READ MORE: Men arrested after drugs and cash found in car pulled over by police
Catalytic converters are used to convert harmful emissions such as carbon monoxide to less harmful emissions such as carbon monoxide and water vapour. Police say a shortage of the parts has created a black market, with costs reaching up to £3,000 for a replacement on some vehicles.
The post explained that thieves identify and target a vehicle, operating very quickly to jack the car up and use cutting tools to cut the catalytic converter off. The culprits will appear to be doing maintenance in the car and operate in broad daylight, with potential witnesses unaware that a crime is happening.
Merseyside Police has labelled these criminals as "brazen" and has called on people to help officers catch them as they continue to operate in town-centre car parks. People are asked to check dashcam footage if they suspect this may have happened.
The post said: "Last Saturday, 26th March the catalytic converter was stolen from a car, parked in the car park at Morrisons in Southport.
"This is a re-emergence of a pattern of thefts that occurred in the Southport area last summer. At that time, thefts of catalytic converters took place at other town centre car parks, other supermarket car parks and at beauty spots. All the thefts took place during the middle of the day and at busy locations where several people will have witnessed the thefts, without realising what was happening. No arrests were made at the time, but a car involved was found and seized.
"In order to steal catalytic converters thieves will identify a target vehicle and, operating very quickly, will jack the car up and use a cutting tool to cut the catalytic converter off. They may appear as if they are just doing repair work on a car, or wear high visibility tabards to 'hide in plain sight'.
"If you see anyone acting in this manner in car parks, photographs, video or dashcam footage of the people involved and vehicles used by them, will be vital in helping us to arrest them. Call us on 999 if you believe you are seeing a crime in process or 101 if you have information or footage of an incident at a later date.
"These thieves are brazen and carry out their crimes in busy areas. Please help us to catch them by reporting people you believe may be carrying out this type of crime."
