MAKE sure your garages and sheds are locked -- or you could be helping thieves to help themselves.

The warning goes out to homeowners from police following a spate of thefts of tools from garages and outhouses in Chorley over the past two weeks.

In the latest incident, a Candy tumble dryer and an automatic washing machine were reported stolen on Monday.

The appliances -- together valued at £450 -- had been taken from a shed at a house on Primrose Street, Chorley. Pots and pans worth £20 were also stolen.

Over the weekend, a Hitachi sander and two Bosch tools were stolen from a garage on Berkeley Close, Chorley.

Between midnight Saturday and 8am Sunday, thieves opened the garage's up and over door and stole the power tools, worth £130.

In a similar incident on the same road, thieves had stolen £350 worth of power tools from a locked detached garage in the early hours of Sunday, August 13.

A garage on Astley Road, Chorley, was targeted last Wednesday, August 16, just before 4am, but nothing was taken.

A white man wearing a baseball cap was seen entering the garage after the up and over door had been opened, but he left after being disturbed by the alarm.

In another incident, power tools worth £350 were stolen from a garage on Melrose Way, Chorley. on the weekend of Sunday August 13.

A Chorley Police spokesman said people often forget the value of tools and appliances. "People are often unaware of what they have got in their garages and sheds and they need to make sure their sheds are always locked when they are not in attendance," he said.