THEFT of short term rental vehicles is declining due to a combination of improved in-company rental procedures including staff training and more security features on cars and vans prompting a £2 million saving in the cost of thefts. Although the number of short term rental vehicles stolen last year increased by 96 to 1,611, set against a 19.2% rise in the size of the sector's fleet, the proportion of the fleet 'lost' fell from 0.7% to 0.6%, according to the report.

It said: 'This was undoubtedly due to better preventative security measures taken by the industry, in particular better customer qualification procedures. It was also a measure of how much has been done by the vehicle manufacturers to improve security on their vehicles generally and also by legislation, where, for example, all vehicles now have to have electronic immobilisers fitted.'