KNUTSFORD'S police officers have delivered special 'crime prevention kits' to residents in Mobberley and Chelford who have been burgled recently.

Cheshire Constabulary launched 'phase two' of 'Operation Shield' this month and this started in earnest on Tuesday, September 15 in Knutsford with Officers from the station delivering Crime prevention Kits to selected roads in Mobberley and Chelford.

These kits contain a 'SelectaDNA' kit, which contains a forensic marking liquid which incorporates time micro dots which can be painted on to valuable items enabling them to be identified if stolen and later recovered and returned to their rightful owner.

The kits are valued at £40 each to the general public and have been bought by the Cheshire Police and partially funded by the NFU Mutual’s Branch Offices in Knutsford and Bramhall, who have made a generous donation in a bid to prevent crime in rural areas.

Owen Suckley, NFU Mutual north west regional manager, said: “NFU Mutual in Chester is delighted to sponsor Cheshire Police’s 100 days of action to tackle rural crime in the area. Our sponsorship will help to provide forensic marking kits so that if your property is stolen and then later recovered, the mark can be identified and the item returned to you.

"Your possessions are important and I would recommend making them as secure as possible."

Sgt Andy Miller, the 'Beat Sergeant' for Knutsford, said: “This operation will be running for several weeks and will continue for as long as we receive funding from partner agencies and parish councils who are all being approached to assist with buying kits for their own areas.

"We believe that this approach to crime prevention is extremely good and will make our rural areas inhospitable to burglars and travelling criminals.

"Our aim is to make it as difficult as possible and pointless for criminals to target houses in Cheshire by giving as many households as possible the opportunity to forensically mark their valuable items and render them far too risky sell or keep for fear of them being identified as stolen."

So far 150 'SelectaDNA' kits have been issued to rural households and several signs have been positioned in the area to advise travelling criminals to stay away.