Police found dozens of motorists left their cars unlocked during an operation in Watford.

Officers were out in the Stanborough Ward/Kingswood area on Tuesday night and tried to open more than 900 car doors.

Whilst the majority of vehicles were secure, police found that 42 had not been locked.

And they have taken to social media to issue a warning about the risks drivers face by doing this.

A post on Watford Police’s Facebook page read: “Most people lock their cars (which is the right thing to do!) however a minority leave them unlocked, making it easy for opportunist thieves.

“If you remove all your valuables from your car and lock it, the thieves will likely move on, hoping to find an easier target somewhere else.

“Why make it easy for them?”

Officers carried out a similar operation in the Meriden and Tudor areas at the end of November - a total of 2,110 handles were checked and 129 were left open.

Police described this number of insecure vehicles in a post as "shocking" pointing out this is one in every 16 vehicles.

They previously said: "Please ensure that your vehicles are being locked after use, and valuables are either removed or concealed from view when you park up, particularly overnight.”