SINCE I joined the Gazette in July, scarcely a week has passed without an account of shameless thieves breaking into houses or brazenly trying car doors.

This week, we report on the upsetting case of the Falklands war hero whose precious and sentimental medals were stolen from his Rooksdown home (Page 58).

It seems light-fingered thieves in Basingstoke are stooping to new levels of depravity.

Crime figures show there were 64 burglaries in the wider Basingstoke area in August, up from 49 burglaries in 2018.

In a letter to residents last week, a PSCO described burglaries as a 'major' issue for the areas of Popley and Oakridge.

And the worrying thing is - they don’t seem to care. Footage of thieves attempting to get into car or front gardens is becoming increasingly commonplace. How would you tackle the problem?

Katie French, Head of News