North Rotherham hit by a spate of 'nasty' house burglaries

Householders around Wentworth and Swinton have been targeted in the raids, with South Yorkshire Police now confirming that one man has been arrested and remains under investigation.

It is unknown whether the crimes are linked, but some have followed a similar pattern, involving a gang of offenders rather than just one lone offender.

Once break-in happened at around the festive period, and was highlighted by Wentworth Parish Councillors, who raised their concerns over crime with the north Rotherham police Inspector, Lesley Fretwell.

It is believed in that incident a group of five offenders were involved, with four targeting the house, while the other remained in a car.

Neighbours were alerted when an alarm went off and the car’s occupant sounded the horn and flashed the lights in an attempt to warn his accomplices, the meeting was told.

That was one of several raids on homes, including at least one garage, in that period, with locations affected understood to include Kirby Lane and Lea Brook Lane. Insp Fretwell told councillors: “Swinton has had a couple of quite nasty burglaries recently”.

The suspect arrested was currently on bail and was not from Rotherham, the meeting was told, with inquiries continuing.

"They are taken seriously. (Someone) breaking into your house is huge, particularly the way they have been doing it,” she said.

South Yorkshire Police have now re-introduced a tactic called ‘cocooning’, which had been used historically, where such crimes occur.

It involves PCSOs visiting immediate neighbours, around six in total, to either side of and across the road from the affected property.

The objective was to look for potential evidence, such as footage from CCTV cameras, which neighbours might have, but also to offer crime prevention advice and to offer re-assurance.

Insp Fretwell said: “It may be a week or two before it is done. Cocooning has been resurrected about five weeks ago, to the way we used to do it. It is for crime prevention and re-assurance.”

Two ‘smart water’ events, in Wentworth and Harley, were held before Christmas, allowing residents to get valuables invisibly marked. That makes them traceable and of less interest to criminals as a result.