MASKED thugs carrying baseball bats have been blamed for a spike in so-called ‘two-in-one’ burglaries which has resulted in high-value cars being stolen.

The Chronicle can reveal that police will focus their efforts on areas including Athersley, Darton, Mapplewell, Penistone, Royston and Staincross due to their close proximity with the West Yorkshire border, due to some Barnsley-registered vehicles being found in places such as Wakefield, Pontefract and Bradford.

Serious acquisitive crime, as the police call it, has been adopted as a priority along the West Yorkshire corridor and on-foot PCSOs have been tasked with delivering crime prevention advice to residents, while both marked and unmarked patrol cars will be skating the border in the coming weeks.

Sergeant Dave Baines said: “We’re undertaking an intelligence-gathering plan as a lot of two-in-one burglaries have taken place in those areas. We’re working alongside West Yorkshire Police and several stolen vehicles have been recovered in their patch, albeit wearing false plates.

“These people have no fear and they’re challenging, they’re wearing masks and in some cases carrying baseball bats. It’s important we get the message out that we’re working on the West Yorkshire corridor as it appears they’re coming into Barnsley and making use of the country lanes.

“Unfortunately we live right on that border and there’s been confusion over which force residents can contact because of that, but we’re both on the same page and want to reassure residents that we’re working hard on stopping these incidents from happening.”

Burglars, according to police, have been targeting vulnerable locks and in some cases have burned the barrel, which effectively gives them easy access to a property.

Detective Chief Inspector Paul Murphy added: “The criminals are targeting houses with high-end or high-performance cars outside. The vehicle is what’s of value but to get the full value they need the keys to the car.

“A lot of the vehicles that are stolen are sold on or used for parts but we do recover a high amount of the stolen cars.

“Burglary is one of the crimes that has the biggest impact on victims, it’s intrusive and scary, but we have dedicated people and patrols dedicated to two-in-one burglaries and we are trying to reduce the chances of this happening in the future.

“South Yorkshire Police take this problem very seriously. At this moment we have a number of additional resources that are patrolling the affected areas.

“We have a dedicated team of officers who are on duty during the day and at night and detectives investigating the offences that have happened to help make arrests.

“We will do absolutely everything they can to stop these crimes from happening and the public can help by following basic crime prevention strategies such as not leaving valuables on show and having a secure place to store keys.

“I want to reassure the people of Barnsley that catching burglars is our passion and we are doing absolutely everything we can to do this.”