Wigan neighbourhood group urge residents to be vigilant after spate of break-ins

A neighbourhood group has urged residents to be vigilant after a spate of break-ins targeting cars and homes in a Wigan community.

Thieves have stole coping stones from walls and gateposts while an Audi has also been snatched in recent days around Standish.

The offenders are targeting areas including Chorley Road and Boars Head Avenue and tend to get into properties through windows and doors.

One break-in saw two men in balaclavas force entry to a house on Boars Head Avenue through back patio doors at around 1am on Tuesday.

However the intruders were disturbed after residents awoke and ran off in the direction of Wigan Road.

It is thought they were looking for car keys as nothing was taken during the incident which has been reported to police.

Other recent incidents saw a break-in overnight on Wigan Road. A grey AudiR5 was stolen by thieves.

While another late-night drama on Chorley Road saw two young men steal original coping stones from gate posts. They had been there since the house was built in the 1940s and the theft left the gate posts in the mess. Fortunately, neighbours had captured the act on CCTV which has been passed on to police. The owners of this property have appealed for anyone locally who finds their coping stones to message them on Facebook.

There have also been other incidents where coping stones have been stolen.

Coun Debbie Parkinson, who is one of the two neighbourhood watch co-ordinators for Wigan and who set-up Standish Community Watch, urged residents to be vigilant and help stop thieves.

She said that people should make their home look occupied and difficult to break-in, lock all outside doors and windows before you leave the house or go away for the weekend, and keep your garage door closed and hide your keys.

She said: “The last couple of weeks have seen break-ins grow as the lockdown has eased and more people are about.

“They’re either going to work and leaving windows open or they’re leaving them open at night while they’re sleeping because of the warm weather we’ve had.

“To help stop thieves, I would make your home look occuped and make it difficult to break in.

“Lock all outside doors and windows before you leave the house or go to bed or go away for the weekend. Keey your garage door closed and locked and hide your keys.”

Standish Community Watch is a Facebook group for the village to try to alert people about crime and help raise issues and promote crime prevention.

Report crime to police on 101.