"BURGLARS in blue" gave a string of York residents a rude awakening in the early hours as part of a summer crackdown on sneak thefts.

Police checking houses in the Bishopthorpe Road area of the city found homes left with open ground floor windows and unlocked doors.

Officers called on a number of addresses between 1am and 3am, warning residents of opportunist thieves.

Community sergeant Mike Stubbs, who led the operation, said up to a third of all burglaries were "sneak-ins", with a sharp increase in incidents traditionally seen during the summer months. He said: "We could have walked away with thousands of pounds of people's property including lap tops, wallets, mobile phones and hi-fi equipment. "We have found residents leaving high-value goods on open display in insecure rooms and quite often with house and car keys nearby.

Jane Mowat, head of the Safer York Partnership, said today: "All members of the household should be encouraged to close doors and lock them."

Updated: 12:16 Thursday, June 26, 2003