Londoners urged to look after sat navs
13 Jul 2007
Londoners have been urged to exercise caution when it comes to their satellite navigation (sat nav) systems after new figures showed a rising number of thefts of the devices in the English capital.
A Metropolitan Police sign, intended to provide awareness about the growing numbers of sat nav thefts said that devices were proving “very desirable” at present before adding: If you leave your device in your car you will have it stolen”.
Latest figures released by the Met showed that 13,000 sat nav systems were stolen in London from vehicles in 2006 and these thefts equated to 15 per cent of the total thefts from cars.
David Evans, senior researcher at Which? magazine, remarked: “For thieves snatching these devices it is easy money; they are so valuable it is not worth hanging around to also steal other items in the car.
“It takes only seconds to smash a window, grab the device and run off. They can then be sold on fairly easily.”
According to the Daily Mail, it is believed that the total of 36 sat nav thefts from vehicles per day in London is the highest level since the sat nav boom began in 2002.
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