MAKE life difficult for burglars by tagging your belongings - that's the advice from police in Whaddon.

Officers from the neighbourhood Safer Community Team have been offering crime-busting tips to residents at a series of street surgeries.

The sessions, which have taken place over the past week, saw police mark bikes, laptops and TVs with a permanent ultraviolet pen.

PCSO Steve Yetton said: "It's important for people to do whatever they can to make it hard for burglars.

"Tagging valuable items can make them much harder to sell on, dissuading people from taking them in the first place.

"Another good step is to register the serial number of an item on a national police property register which makes it easy for any police force in the country to trace it."

The street surgeries saw police hand out questionnaires, offering people the chance to have their say on issues that need addressing in the area.

PCSO Yetton added: "It's a great opportunity for us to meet people in the community, have a chat, and find out what policing issues are important to them."

The next street surgery will take place on February 6 outside McColl's shop in Whaddon Road.

For more information about Whaddon SCT go to www.gloucestershire.police.uk