PEOPLE have been urged to shop motorists driving expensive stolen cars.

Police are sure many people suspect their neighbours have stolen cars - and say now is the time to inform on them.

Police say anyone who speaks up will be treated in confidence.

Also, people who have bought the stolen cars have been given the chance to hand in the keys in anonymously, with a note telling police where they have left the vehicle.

The move follows police worries over the number of burglaries where thieves have raided homes, taken car keys and driven off.

People who buy these prestige cars must know they have been stolen.

Det Sgt Ian Froggett, of Crimestoppers, said: "Some of these people will be very uneasy behind the wheel.

"They know the car has been stolen and it is highly unlikely they have insured it.

"This is their last chance to get rid of the car. If they are stopped by the police it is likely they will be arrested on suspicion of handling stolen goods, along with motoring offences."

Det Sgt Froggett added that people must suspect neighbours, or people they know, of driving around in stolen cars.

"The car is often way beyond the driver's means and looks totally out of place outside their homes," he said.

"All we ask is that they give us a description of the car, its number and where it is. We'll then check it out."

He said many of the stolen cars have cloned numberplates copied from legitimate vehicles.

But they will immediately show up as being false on the Police National Computer.

Det Sgt Froggett said someone rang Crimestoppers with a tip-off after they spotted a registration document for a sports car which did not tie up with the vehicle.

The car was seized by police.

This new Find The Car campaign follows the recent arrest in West Yorkshire of 32 people suspected of being involved in these kind of thefts.

The arrests marked the culmination of a year-long operation by the force to tackle such crime.

Campaign leader Chief Supt Howard Crowther said: "Millions of pounds worth of vehicles are stolen each year and never recovered because they are used by the criminal fraternity to commit more crime.

"If you suspect or know a vehicle has been stolen pass details on to Crimestoppers.

"One in 10 domestic burglaries involve the theft of vehicle keys and then the vehicle outside," he added.

"Some are sold with forged documents to innocent motorists and others go for a few hundred pounds to criminals."

Det Sgt Froggett said: "These vehicles remain the property of the original owners. If they are found they will be returned to them without compensation to the people using them.

"This person may not even know the vehicle is stolen.

"People can play a part in reducing vehicle crime by helping us Find the Car.

"Nobody will ever know you rang us, because Crimestoppers will never know who you are.

"Calls from landlines are free, they are not traced, they don't appear on itemised bills, they are not taped and callers are not asked any personal details," said Det Sgt Froggett.

"Rewards can be paid - and we still never find out who callers are."

As part of the campaign, Crimestoppers is giving people the chance to anonymously hand in the keys of stolen vehicles.

They can send them to Crime- stoppers with a note saying where the vehicle has been left.

* Contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

* Vehicle keys should be sent to Crimestoppers at PO Box 9, Laburnum Road, Wakefield, WF1 3QP.

* The most popular targets for thieves are Mercedes, BMWs and VW Passats and Golfs.

* Thieves stole cars worth about £50m in West Yorkshire over the last 12 months

* About £22m worth of them are still missing

* A Mercedes worth £35,000 may be sold for as little as £500 by the thieves

* One in 10 domestic burglaries involves the theft of car keys, followed by the theft of the car