BURGLARS marked the Christmas and New Year period by causing misery for residents.

There were at least nine reported break-ins around the town over the period, including:

Crooks removed the glass panel of the front door of a flat in Brancepeth Court, Stanney, between 7pm on Friday and 10.50am on Saturday.

They carried out a search and removed various items before escaping undetected.

Between 3.30-10pm on New Year’s Day, thieves entered a rear garden in Luton Road, Ellesmere Port, unscrewed the hinges of a shed door, removed the alarm and turned off a light inside.

The offenders then threw items around the garden and removed a drill, which was later found in a neighbour’s garden.

Between midnight and 6.30am on New Year’s Eve, hook and cane thieves managed to steal – via the letterbox – a set of house keys from a hall table inside a house in Meadway, Little Sutton.

They then used the keys to enter through the front door, made their way to the kitchen area and stole property.

Thieves failed to break all the locks securing a garage in Bailey Avenue, Ellesmere Port, between 3-9am on December 30.

A burglar forced a ground floor window of a home in Oliver Lane, Great Sutton, at 6.55pm on December 29 but was disturbed by the occupant and ran off.

Between 12.30pm on Christmas Eve and 7.30am on December 29, crooks approached a brick-built garage in Maple Grove, Whitby, climbed on to its roof, unbolted the door via exterior fixings, and forced it open.

They then stole a number of pedal cycles, but abandoned them about 200m away.

Car thieves interrupted

CAR thieves were disturbed by a passerby in the middle of their crime.

They had broken into the Vauxhall Corsa parked outside a house in Westenra Avenue, Ellesmere Port, on the night of December 29, damaged the steering column and removed it from the driveway. They were disturbed by a passing member of public but managed to escape before the police arrived.

The Corsa was then dumped at the junction of Straker Avenue and Westenra Avenue, while the thieves escaped.

Christmas present haul

CHRISTMAS presents including a Nintendo DS lite and Microsoft Xbox 360 and family gifts were all stolen from a Ford Fiesta in Princes Road, Ellesmere Port, between 5pm on December 28 and 3pm the next day.

Vehicle break-ins

OFFENDERS stole an Adidas toiletry bag and contents from a Vauxhall Corsa in Wolverham Road, Ellesmere Port, on December 28; a chop saw and sat nav from a Vauxhall Movano in Loxdale Drive, Great Sutton on December 29; took number plates from a VW Passat in Juniper Drive, Great Sutton, on December 29; stole both electric wing mirrors from a Vauxhall Vectra in The Oval, Great Sutton, on New Year’s Eve; registration plates from a Ford Fiesta in Pembridge Gardens, Ellesmere Port, on New Year’s Day before bending and twisting the rear windscreen wiper; smashed the front nearside window of a Ford Transit in Ellerton Avenue, Little Sutton, at 6.18pm on New Year’s Day; smashed their way into a Renault Master van in Carlyle Crescent, Great Sutton, at 6.30pm on New Year’s Day; forcing open the driver’s door and attempting to hotwire a Ford Escort in Flatt Lane, Ellesmere Port, at 8.57pm on Friday; smashing their way in to a Vauxhall Zafira parked by the Blue Planet Aquarium, Longlooms Road, between 10.30am and noon on Saturday, searching the glove compartment then removing the satnav and charger from within and also taking the satnav holder from the windscreen; stealing a CD stereo from a Volvo 440 in Briarfield Road, Ellesmere Port, on Friday night.

Witnesses or anyone with information about any of these crimes should call Ellesmere Port on 0845 4580000 or ring Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.