Up to 1,000 thieves arrested and 600 stolen vehicles recovered in police crackdown

Almost 600 stolen vehicles have also been recovered as part of West Midlands Police's Operation Cantil, which was launched last September.

Officers also say the operation has uncovered a rise in young men and teenagers being recruited by others to carry out the crimes – by bribing them with cash and gifts.

The offensive has seen police teams tasked with going after crooks who break into homes to steal keys and drive off in high-value cars. Roads policing units have been acting as 'spotters' on the look-out for known offenders. Alongside other specialist units, including dog teams, they collectively targeted areas across the region that had been hit with burglaries – plus near the homes of potential suspects.

It has led to 979 suspects being arrested – including 296 for burglary or car theft offences. More than 200 of those arrested have since been charged, including suspected burglars and vehicle crime offenders, plus drink drivers and people who were on the run having skipped bail.

Recently, a gang of five Romanian nationals were remanded into prison accused of breaking into hundreds of homes across the West Midlands between 2015 and 2018.

While a 17-year-old boy was also arrested by officers and has since been linked to 52 car key burglaries.

The operation has also seen the recovery of 581 stolen cars and more than 300 police pursuits.

West Midlands Police Superintendent Dave Twyford said: "Our aim was to gather intelligence more effectively to identify and catch offenders – and that intelligence is now helping us to predict and prevent offending.

“By using highly-trained roads policing staff alongside investigation and offender management teams we are able to enhance our tactics. When an offence is now reported we are able to better understand the crime, who is involved and plan our action to tackle it. This approach is now starting to pay off with a reduction in these types of offences.

“However, we are not complacent and we will be continuing our focus on the offenders as well as endeavouring to target those who are controlling them.”

He said it has also revealed a trend of young men and teenagers being recruited by seasoned offenders to do the work on their behalf.

Mr Twyford added: "We are seeing young men, often below the age of 20, targeted by hardened crooks who are themselves are no longer willing to take the risk to do the time, but still want to thrive off the spoils of car key crime.

“They persuade youngsters with the lure of cash, tracksuits and trainers to take the risk, telling them the police can’t do anything as they have no previous convictions. A huge amount of serious offending among our young people is being discovered.

“These young people can be making anything between £100 and £1,000 a time for each car they steal – and when we recover their phones we often discover they are like a diary of crime, full of information about their offending.

“But they are being peddled a myth about police being powerless to act – and young men getting lured into this type of crime are seriously blighting their futures and could end up in prison.”