THE Metropolitan Police is advising fleets to treat car keys with the same care and respect as cash or credit cards. Detective inspector Keith Brayne, vehicle crime prevention officer, said car security systems were now so sophisticated that thieves were moving away from breaking into cars, and instead trying to gain access by stealing keys.

'Very few thieves now have the skills to steal a car, so they will walk into offices, restaurants, or even burgle homes to steal car keys - people should hide them away,' he warned. 'But keys are being left indiscriminately, posted through letter boxes at garages or rental companies. Thieves will go on fishing trips through a letter box, so if a key must be left, it should be in a secure box, or posted through a solid door, and left in a substantial envelope to disguise it.'

If such measures help to defeat committed criminals, company car drivers can overcome opportunist thieves by thinking ahead. As company car drivers learn the lesson of securing valuables in the boot of the car if they have to leave them, Brayne is pushing for drivers to think ahead. Rather than transfer valuables on arrival at a destination - potentially in view of a sharp-eyed criminal - drivers should work out in advance what they will need, and secure everything else in the boot before they set off.