THE burglary spree which has seen break-ins across Barnsley soar this year has been fuelled by travelling criminals from miles away who have been targeting the area, according to the police.

Officers have now made several arrests, with suspects having been traced to locations many miles from the homes and businesses they have been linked to through investigations.

A man from Liverpool has already appeared in court and pleaded not guilty to four burglary offences around Barnsley town centre, but other suspects have also been identified as people living outside the town.

One of the burglary issues involves so called ‘two in one’ offences where the main purpose in breaking into homes is to find the keys for cars parked outside.

A vehicle taken in one such offence was followed to Featherstone and although it was not recovered, police have now identified a suspect from West Yorkshire.

A further incident at Silkstone Common, where two cars were taken from a house which was also ransacked as the occupants slept, has been the subject of a successful investigation.

Sgt Ian Bailey said: “We have people who are travelling through the area. Someone has been seen in Rookery Close (Thurgoland) and then did a burglary at Silkstone.

“We believe we have a lead on that. These are people not from Barnsley or this area. We have travelling criminals coming onto us.”

The official advice from police is now that car keys should not be left on view, but should not be hidden.

Police now avoid giving advice to householders which could lead to a confrontation with intruders and suggest that if there is a break-in, it is safer to allow those involved to take the car and let police investigate from there.

The Penistone area is among the districts suffering from burglaries at present and police have promised action in the immediate future.

Sgt Bailey said: “I have spoken to CID and we are developing things in this area. We have some intelligence and we will be developing that.

“I am hoping for some kind of move before Christmas.”

Police have faced criticism from some crime victims for the response they have received following break-ins.

One resident, a former police officer who lives on the fringes of Penistone, returned home at 11pm to find his home had been burgled but did not get a visit from police until 8.30am the following day, despite making several calls through the night.

That situation has been explained as “miscommunication” by police but other residents are worried that information available to police is not always used correctly.

A neighbour to that raid saw a man taking photographs of door locks on houses on the same street and offered CCTV footage showing the man to police, but it was the following week before officers turned up to investigate.

Others complain that since reductions in neighbourhood police took hold, there are now no simple ways to pass information about suspicious behaviour to police.

There has been growing anxiety about crime and burglaries in particular in Penistone and surrounding villages, but Sgt Bailey said there were also strong demands for police from other districts.

“There is a lot of crime in Barnsley and when I look at Kendray, there is a lot of stuff happening there, anti social behaviour, youth nuisance, theft from vehicles,” he said.

“It is the same in the town centre, then out towards Athersley and Grimethorpe.”

Residents in the Penistone area have called for foot patrols, but Sgt Bailey said the demands on police time meant that was difficult to justify.

Statistics in last week’s Chronicle revealed that burglary rates have doubled in the first eight months of 2017 compared to the same period last year.

Problems have escalated faster in the west side of Barnsley, where in some months burglary rates have been more than treble their 2016 figure.