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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
National
Sophie Halle-Richards

Car theft is on the rise in Wythenshawe and locals have had enough

Car theft in Wythenshawe has brought misery to hundreds of decent, hard-working people who are seeing vehicles stolen from under their nose.

The increasing trend of keyless car theft, combined with less police on the beat, has meant that car theft in the south Manchester suburb is thriving, according to residents.

Things got so bad last month that one street was described by locals as a 'race track' for unruly thieves in stolen cars.

The Manchester Evening News can now reveal that in the last four months alone, over 100 cars have been lifted from the streets of Wythenshawe.

Figures released by Greater Manchester Police show that in the period between January and April 2019, 101 vehicles had been reported stolen - up from 86 during the same period in 2018.

And locals have had enough.

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The Wythenshawe Stolen Vehicles and Surrounding Areas group was set up to raise awareness of the vehicle crime in the area, but has now become something of a community task force - dedicated to solving car related crimes.

The page, set up by a local resident named Mark, now has over 1,000 members who share information and intelligence in a bid to solve crime and help 'under-resourced' police.

"It all started in June last year when all these keyless car thefts started appearing," said Mark.

"It got to the point where I thought, you know what, this is getting crazy now and I created the group so that people could start posting details of their car online and others could start looking for it."

The keyless car theft trend is one that has swooped the country and has enabled thieves to steal high-value cars with equipment which can be bought easily online.

The M.E.N previously reported how two thieves managed to steal a £30,000 Toyota in Rochdale in a matter of seconds using a simple technique.

Car stolen in less than 60 seconds from outside a house

"If you know how to steal a key less car, it's not exactly difficult," Mark said.

"You can buy the equipment you need from Ebay or Amazon pretty cheaply."

Since the Facebook page was set up nearly 12 months ago, posts have become more and more frequent, according to Mark.

"I think people are scared to give police information for fear of reprisal in Wythenshawe so they come to the group instead," he said.

"We seem to have a dedicated group within the page who are trying to find these vehicles but thieves are getting smarter and it's definitely becoming more of an organised crime.

"A lot of these cars are high value like BMWs and Mercedes and then cheaper ones are being stolen to facilitate crime.

"It's not just Wythenshawe either, it's happening all over the place - in Sale , Stockport , Chorlton and Didsbury to name a few."

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Mark says much of the problem boils down to a lack of police officers patrolling the streets, which he says has left criminals essentially 'lawless.'

"It comes down to there not being enough police on the streets which is a shame because they are really trying, but a lot of forces have higher priority crimes to deal with," he said.

"But there are people out there whose cars are their life and for people who don't have much money in the first place, having your car stolen is absolutely devastating."

A stolen Mini Cooper crashed into fencing on Portway in Wythenshawe in April (Mark Sutton)

Despite a lack of presence, however, Mark and other locals feel police are doing their best in the face of funding cuts.

"Although police numbers are low, they are really trying and slowly things are coming together," he said.

"The group acts as an extra reference point for the police and helps them and members of the community know what to look out for."

And the response does seem to be working.

In the last week, GMP Wythenshawe have shared a number of results and arrests on Twitter, and some cars have been returned back to their owners.

"Social media has been a brilliant thing," Mark added.

"With groups like these, the community are getting together and sharing information with each other.

"Wythenshawe has got a bad name but it is not all of us, it is just a select few who don't care. It's actually lawless the way some of them behaving."

For Mark, managing the Facebook page has become a second job albeit, unpaid job. He says the gratification of helping people is enough.

"It is rewarding for me know that Wythenshawe is a better place for it," he said.

"The more people that get behind it, the better it is for the area."

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