Police in south Manchester are urging residents to register their items on immobilise.

The police seize hundreds of items each year and many of them cannot be returned, as police do not know where they have come from.

Immobilise.com is a free database whereby residents can register valuable items and record information such as serial numbers and distinguishing marks. All police forces have access to the site and when an item is seized or handed in, officers can check the database and find out who it belongs to.

Inspector Paul Kinrade from the South Manchester Division of Greater Manchester Police said:

Our property store is crammed full of bikes, garden tools, computers, jewellery and clothing but unfortunately a lot of this is never returned to its owners as we are not able to identify where it has come from.

Obviously we hope that residents never have to go through the experience of getting broken into but registering your valuables on immobilise only takes a couple of minutes and it could spell the difference between getting your stolen items back or never seeing them again.

To avoid the chances of being broken into, please remember to shut and lock all of your windows and doors. It sounds really obvious but unfortunately a third of burglaries happen because homes are left insecure.

You can also help to deter burglars by leaving lights on and keeping valuables out of view.

To read the source article please go to: www.gmp.police.uk