Here are the 4 cars most at risk of having parts stolen by ‘cannibal’ thieves

DRIVERS have been warned which cars are most in danger of being stripped of their parts by opportunistic “cannibal” thieves.

Bonnets, bumpers and headlights are being ripped from motors as part of a new crime trend dubbed “car cannibalism”, with parked vehicles being targeted to order by gangs.

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They go on to sell the stolen parts at prices which are surging post-pandemic, according to the Sunday Times.

And the most-prized models have been revealed – the Vauxhall Corsa, the Toyota Yaris, the Ford Fiesta and the Renault Clio.

Experts say the West Midlands is at the centre of the new car crimewave, with Yorkshire and Scotland also heavily-hit.

Martin Aldridge, a 56-year-old railway controller from Birmingham’s Erdington district, is among those affected.

He told how two attacks months apart on his 25-year-old daughter’s cars have so unsettled his family they are now departing the area where they have lived for the past two decades.

His daughter’s Renault Clio was stripped of its bonnet, front grille, bumper and lights last November.

She was then provided with a courtesy car, a Vauxhall Corsa, while repairs were carried out – but this too was targeted by thieves in March.

The Clio has still not yet been fixed, because her local garage has been unable to find the right parts.

And the courtesy car provider is no longer willing to provide another replacement because the area is deemed too unsafe, according to Mr Aldridge.

He said: “We’re fed up with it happening, and people are doing it because they are getting away with it.”

West Midlands police and crime commissioner Simon Foster has advised motorists to use full steering-wheel locks and Faraday pouches to store car keys at home.

The pouch can block electromagnetic fields used by car thieves to steal vehicles.

West Midlands Police say since last September they have raided 22 so-called “chop shops” – illegal garages where stolen cars are taken to be cut up and sold for parts.

But officers fear offenders are becoming more tempted to “cannibalise” cars parked on the streets.

Det Supt Jim Munro, head of West Midlands Police’s vehicle crime task force, said: “It’s a shift in offending.

“Here in the West Midlands we saw the cannibalism spike first, but it was as a result of the good work we’ve done in the chop shops.

“People think cannibalism is more risky, but it’s actually a lower-risk business.”

Some 212,900 victims had items stolen from the vehicles last year, according to the Office for National Statistics – up ten per cent on 2021.

And there were 108,542 vehicle thefts in England and Wales in the financial year 2021-2022, a 22 per cent increase on the previous 12 months.

Residents in Birmingham told earlier this year about an epidemic of thieves “shredding” their cars in broad daylight.

Children as young as 10 have been stealing cars, according to research – with keyless cars appearing especially vulnerable to criminals.

Fiats have previously been revealed as among the models most often stolen – as have Ford Fiestas and Range Rovers, according to DVLA figures for last year.

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