Police have made a double arrest as part of a continued crackdown on thefts from vehicles in Nottingham’s city west.

Response officers were out patrolling the Bilborough area when they were alerted to reports a car was being broken into.

Within minutes of that call coming in at 1.45am on Tuesday (2 April), police drove to the vehicle’s location in Strelley Road. 

At that point, they spotted two suspects, who were searched at the roadside – with police recovering a sat-nav, bottle of aftershave and other items.

A knife was also discovered by police following a search of the nearby area.

Two men, aged 18 and 23, were both brought into custody after being arrested on suspicion of theft from a motor vehicle.

The teenage suspect was also arrested on suspicion of possessing a knife in public, and for a racially aggravated public order offence after an officer was racially abused.  

These arrests came at a time when the city west neighbourhood policing team have been making a concerted effort to crackdown on these thefts.

There has been a recent spike in offences in Bilborough, Aspley and Leen Valley, with thefts from vehicles being selected as the policing priority for the area as a result.

City west officers have stepped up patrols of locations reported to be targeted by thieves as part of this, while also carrying out extra operations to identify and stop offenders.      

The team have seen some great results lately, including the arrest and charge of Warren Staniforth, 39, for a series of thefts from vehicles in and around Bilborough. 

Staniforth, of Fenwick Road, Broxtowe, later admitted to four separate thefts, with the prolific thief going on to receive a 33-week prison sentence on 25 March.   

Sergeant Ian Johnson, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “Thanks to response officers getting to the scene as quickly as they did, we were able to detain two suspects following reports of a car break-in. 

“This double arrest came at a time when we’ve been carrying out a targeted crackdown in city west on those involved in thefts from vehicle offences. 

“As part of this, we’ve stepped up our patrols as a neighbourhood policing team, so it’s pleasing to see this approach has led to arrests being made by our colleagues in response. 

“We know how much of an impact these thefts can have on the community, so we will carry on taking positive action to try and bring this offending down further.”