YOU may be dreading the long winter evenings ahead but one part of the population is positively relishing it - the car thief. Longer and darker evenings mean more time to check out potential victims - and more cover to carry out their crimes. So it won't come as a surprise to learn that a vehicle crime is committed every 15 seconds in the UK, two thirds of all car crime takes place in the vicinity of the home and the vast majority of that occurs during the evening or at night.

Despite improvements in car security, the UK still has one of the worst records in the world for car theft with a car stolen every two minutes in England and Wales alone. "Only 60% of stolen cars are ever recovered and many of those are damaged beyond repair so it makes sense to avoid becoming a statistic in the first place," pointed out Paul Lees, sales director of security specialist Autolok.

It needn't cost you a fortune to protect your vehicle and there are all sorts of devices on the market. The best have been attack tested and approved by security experts at Thatcham and Sold Secure, such as the Autolok 2000 and Autolok EXS steering wheel shields which cost less than £70 and have the added advantage of having proved they can cut car theft. In one particularly bad area for car crime in Luton car theft fell by 75% when some 15% of the residents started using the Autolok 2000!

The Autolok 2000 and EXS are available from good car accessory shops nationwide. They normally cost between £60 and £70 but as a special winter reader offer can be bought for a limited period direct from Autolok for £49.99 inclusive of VAT and delivery. For full details contact Autolok on 0161 624 8171 or visit the Autolok website at http://www.autolok.co.uk to check out the full security range.