A new wave of golf thefts is hitting courses and clubs across North Yorkshire - and police have set up a Golf Watch scheme to tackle it.

Tens of thousands of pounds worth of equipment has been stolen in recent months, but police today cautioned thieves that the system could help bring them to book.

A year ago, the county was in the grip of an "epidemic" of thefts of clubs from courses and pro shops, according to police.

The problem had appeared to wane, until a spate of thefts over this summer and into the autumn brought the issue to the fore again.

Expensive golf equipment makes rich pickings for thieves, and the lucrative nature of golf crime was highlighted by a recent theft from the pro shop at Easingwold Golf Club.

In this audacious raid, thieves knocked a hole in the shop wall before making off with equipment valued at about £11,000.

A similar incident at York Golf Club at Strensall enabled thieves to net golf clubs valued at more than £7,000.

At the lower end of the scale, a golfer at a York club who trudged off into the rough looking for a lost ball returned five minutes later to find his clubs had been stolen from the fairway.

And dozens of golfers have had clubs taken from parked cars or from golf club premises.

A Golf Watch scheme - similar to Neighbourhood Watch - has been set up in the York and Selby areas to try to tackle the growing tide.

Details of equipment stolen and suspects and vehicles involved in crimes are circulated to golf clubs and shops on the Neighbourhood Watch Ringmaster telephone system.

Golfers can then be made aware of suspicious people and vehicles seen at other courses, and of stolen equipment.

Community safety officer PC Jim Shanks, working with Safer York Partnership, said he believed the equipment was often stolen to order as it was invariably the more expensive clubs that were taken.

"Some of these clubs are worth several hundreds of pounds each and that means instant cash for the thief," he said.

PC Shanks said many golfers were careless in leaving clubs lying around outside the clubhouse.

Others left clubs in plain view on the back seats of their cars.

Deborah Lynch, of York Neighbourhood Watch, who helped set up the Golf Watch scheme, said more than a dozen local clubs were participating.

She urged golfers to report all crimes to the police so that further thefts could be prevented.