It used to be that you could leave your door open and feel safe, confident that neighbours and the local bobby would keep an eye out for troublemakers.

But it seems that the local police officer now has enough to keep them busy in their own house, with the revelation that more than £1 million worth of goods has gone missing from police stations across the country.

From dogs to motor homes, police stations seem to be a prime target for thieves looking to make a quick killing under the noses of those sworn to thwart them.

Criminals in police stations are not exactly an unexpected turn of events, so maybe officers should be a little more circumspect about where they leave their goods. Three cases of theft within one police district involved either police officers themselves or members of the public leaving bags with cash and credit cards unattended in public areas.

And they disappeared. Shock. Horror.

Maybe it is a case of familiarity breeds contempt and officers just get sloppy about basic housekeeping, but they really should know better.

One officer who was appearing in a case at a large Crown Court once asked an usher if it would be all right to leave his laptop on a bench in the hall while he quickly went into the courtroom.

“Well it’s up to you, love, but there are a lot of criminals around here. Allegedly,” she replied. The officer, understandably, quickly picked it up and took it with him. You can understand how criminals would get into a police station – hopefully not through a skylight but in handcuffs – but quite how they get out again with an Aladdin’s cave of goods is another question.

How difficult can it be to spot someone driving out of a secure storage area with a massive £40,000 motor home? Or someone having it away on their toes with a hedge trimmer from a (hopefully) secure lock-up?

Despite the astonishing thefts from what should be some of the most secure premises in the country, in the last year across England and Wales burglaries from business premises have fallen by 8 per cent, from 329,473 in 2006-07 to 302,781 in 2007-08.

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