BARGAIN hunters can can rest assured when revelling in the tradition of car boot sales, with police officers patrolling the locations they take place at.

Officers of Malvern Safer Neighbourhood Team and the Special Constabulary team will be on the look out for the opportunistic criminals at car boot sales across the Malvern Hills area, including Monksfield and The Ketch, in Worcester.

PC Dave Wise, of Malvern Safer Neighbourhood Team, said: "Given the popularity of the events it is important for us to be present to provide maximum police visibility, and although offending is low, it is an opportunity to deter the occasional incidents of pickpocketing, theft and the sale of stolen or counterfeit goods that can occur.

"We've had a very welcome reaction from event organisers, sellers and buyers so far and our intention is to maintain the already excellent reputation of these events, keeping them as reputable and as crime free as possible."

Such an incident of occurred on May 17, after a stall holder stole a lamp from a fellow seller, and sold the lamp to unsuspecting customers.

The lamp was identified by officers and returned to its original owner. The thief was banned from future events.

The operation, run in partnership with Worcestershire Regulatory Services, was launched on May 1, and is set to continue throughout the summer months.