Residents urged to be vigilant following Castle Brom burglaries

POLICE have pledged to step up patrols after an increase in burglary offences in Castle Bromwich.
The suburb was one of two in Solihull, the other being Olton, which have been identified by officers as seeing a spike in break-ins.
Police urged residents to sign up to Neighbourhood Watch schemes and focus on home security, warning that opportunists will often take advantage if doors or windows are left open.
A police spokesman said: "We are taking additional police patrols and have set up a number of capture houses − homes fitted with hidden cameras and infrared sensors − which catch offenders in the act. "We are able to remotely track all of the items in the houses to provide damning evidence which we use in court."
A spate of burglaries was one of the main concerns raised by residents during a public meeting at Arden Hall earlier this year.
Officers had acknowledged that Castle Bromwich presented a tempting target to criminals because it was "a nice area" with larger properties.
Twenty break-ins were reported in the neighbourhood in December according to the website UKCrimeStats, making burglary the most common type of crime in the area. Figures for the first two months of 2017 have not yet been released.