MARLBOROUGH has been hit by a series of burglaries of private homes over the last month said police with fewer crimes reported over the Christmas period in Pewsey.

At the Pewsey parish council meeting on January 8, officers reported on a range of criminal activities taking place for during the month of December.

Accompanied by PCSO Paul Whiteside, Sgt Peter Foster said the burglaries were likely to be from gangs from outside of the area.

He said: “I suggest that the offenders are not locals, but they are coming in off the A4 and there has been thefts from motor vehicles in Burbage and Wilton.”

Over the Christmas period the police used a van to as of their operation to combat drink driving offenders. Sgt Foster said: “We had a drink driver crash into the van.

"The offender was arrested.”

There were a number of domestic related incidents he said, although it had been relatively quiet over the holiday although there was an arrest of a woman at Pewsey railway station on New Year’s morning which he said was unusual.

The police were asked about thieves scamming car keys to gain access to vehicles.

PSCO Whiteside said it was important to not leave keys by a front door where a thief could reach through a letterbox to grab them.

“In Marlborough what the thieves have been doing is going through back doors or windows,” said Sgt Foster, “to get hold of the keys. In one instance recently, the home owner came back to find two people sat in their own vehicle on their driveway. At that point the thieves scarpered.”

One councillor said an incident in Pewsey recently a neighbour had their car broken into and the contents including shopping had been taken.

PCSO Whiteside said it was important not to leave anything on view to tempt potential thieves.