A dealer in Asian gold has urged jewellers to take extra precautions as West Yorkshire Police figures revealed gold thefts totalling £426,000 in five years.

The force said a total of 128 crimes were recorded where ‘Asian gold’ was given as a description between 2013 and 2018.

In the most recent year there were 23 crimes and the value of the property stolen totalled £110,500, according to figures released following a Freedom of Information request.

The force admitted that the figures did not paint a full picture as it did not have a specific way of recording Asian gold thefts.

A police spokesman said: “There may be other Asian gold property items stolen which do not including this (‘Asian gold’) wording.”

A West Yorkshire-based dealer in Asian gold told the Examiner that it was important to be vigilant and to take extra precautions.

“People need to be very wary of who is coming into their shop,” he said.

“They should be very careful and, if possible, take extra precautions. A robber could be a man dressed as a woman. You have to be alert and be careful.”

In December 2015 men dressed in full black burkas carried out an armed raid on an Asian jewellers in Manchester. The five robbers were later jailed for a total of 87 years.

There have been several raids on Asian jewellers in Huddersfield in recent years.

Last month four axe-wielding masked raiders escaped with gold and jewellery from Shabir’s, a family-run shop in Sufton Street, Birkby.

In January 2013 raiders escaped with a haul of gold worth about £100,000 after smashing their way into Shingar Jewellers in Bradford Road at Fartown.

At the time, a spokesman for Shingar’s described it as a “dangerous trade”.

In February 2015 it was reported that a substantial haul of Asian wedding jewellery was stolen from a house in Milton Place, Halifax.

The items disappeared between September 14 and January 15.

And in October 2010 police in Kirklees warned that the criminal fraternity were becoming familiar with Asian customs such as storing wedding jewellery at home before the big day,

In May that year £30,000 worth of jewellery was stolen from the home of a couple in Fixby. Fartown and Birkby were named as hotspots for theft of jewellery from homes.

In 2013 a robbery gang who targeted Asian jewellers across West Yorkshire were jailed for a total of 57 years. The gang, whose members were based in Leeds, Bradford and Batley, had escaped with valuables worth around £100,000 from Sona jewellers in Blacker Road, Birkby, among other stores.