Why it's not a great idea to leave your car running when you're not in it

Cold weather, apparently, can bring on a spate of ‘frost jackings’. This is when nasty folk make off with your car, just because you've left it to de-ice on the drive – complete with the keys in the ignition and the engine running.

Newly-released figures from Tracker, the vehicle recovery specialist, suggest that a car is stolen every five minutes in the UK – and 84 per cent of the stolen cars that Tracker recovers were taken using the owner’s keys. So leaving your running car unattended on frosty mornings could be a costly – and rather silly – mistake.

Tracker's spokesperson asks: “Would you leave an open briefcase containing £30,000 cash or more on your driveway or outside the local newsagent on a frosty morning? The answer is undoubtedly no.  

“Our research shows that thieves are opportunists and look out for cars on frosty mornings, shopping around for the most popular makes and models, as temperatures start to drop. Modern cars use inbuilt security that makes it more difficult to steal them without the keys, so every year thieves exploit the cold snap to target car owners who take the risk.”

Even worse, you might well find that your insurance company refuses to pay out on a theft claim in such cases.

You have been warned.

Photograph: Istockphotos.com