Welcome to the crime map, a new venture the Evening Press and York police hope will help you - and them - to beat the criminal.

In a regular fortnightly series, we will be publishing a map (see below) to highlight the greatest areas of concern for officers in the city.

Residents of York and its outlying villages will be able to see where and what the crime hot spots are.

Our readers will then be able to keep a look out in their local area on behalf of the police and take additional security precautions if they deem them necessary.

Our first crime map is focusing on stolen vehicles and shows not only the total number of vehicles stolen in August but also pinpoints the areas where they were taken from.

Detective Inspector John Lacy said thieves were now steering clear of car parks, where CCTV was in operation, and had switched to stealing cars from the streets.

He paid tribute to the work of the City of York Council, which has made the city's car parks among the safest in the country, but warned motorists that they may need to consider additional security measures when parking outside their homes.

"In the last ten years car ownership has doubled but we now have the lowest number of car thefts since 1989," said DCI Lacy.

"This is not just down to police initiatives like the off-road patrols but also thanks to the efforts of the City of York Council and the motor industry.

"This map is a visual representation of the pattern of vehicle theft.

"It will allow people to make up their own minds about whether they are in a high risk area and act accordingly.

"Most vehicles in danger of theft are mopeds and cars with a J registration or older because they do not have the same level of in-built security as modern cars.

"But there are a lot of products on the market and if people believe they are at risk they can invest in an additional car lock."

If you wish to pass information to the York police call (01904) 631321 or contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.