Were you lucky enough to receive a new mobile phone, MP3 player, Sat Nav, bike or other valuables this Christmas? If so, Merseyside Police is urging you to make them less attractive to would be thieves by immobilising them.

Merseyside Police have adopted the Immobilise system – a property registering scheme which aims to make life as difficult as possible for thieves. The aim of the scheme is to encourage members of the public to register with the Immobilise website (www.immobilise.com), a simple process which takes just a few minutes.

The website allows users to register their personal possessions on a secure database free of charge. If any lost or stolen items are recovered by police, officers can retrieve the owner’s details from the website. They can be returned to the owner with, in the case of theft, a better prospect of a successful prosecution.

The Immobilise website is linked to the National Mobile Property Register, a national police database of registered property ownership and stolen property records.

Chief Inspector Stuart Ellison comments:

Being a victim of crime is awful at anytime, but the impact can often be greater at Christmas, particularly if gifts are stolen. Registering items on the site only takes a few minutes and it may help you become reunited with your property if it is stolen or lost.

The NMPR is searched thousands of times a day by forces across the UK and it is used routinely by Merseyside Police.

Merseyside Police advise taking the following precautions with items such as mobile phones and MP3 players:

• Be aware of your surroundings, and conceal items if you feel uneasy.
• Never leave your property unattended, keep it on you, not near you.
• Be particularly vigilant whilst travelling home from school or college and when leaving railway stations or other public transport locations.
• Finally, register your property for free at www.immobilise.com

Basically, you can register anything with a serial number – simply log onto www.immobilise.com. Then if any item of registered property is stolen, report it to the Police and, in the case of a mobile phone, for example, give police your IMEI number, inform your service provider and tell them to block both the SIM and handset. You should then update your online Immobilise account.

To read the Merseyside Police news article in full please go to: www.merseyside.police.uk