PEOPLE are being urged to be careful with all the wrappings and trappings of Christmas to avoid falling foul to crime.

West Mercia Police is reminding householders to dispose of their festive rubbish with care to avoid advertising to burglars all the new things they got on Christmas Day.

The force says the empty cardboard wrappings, boldly displaying the details of what had been inside, are like a shopping list for burglars and suggest they are ripped up and taken to the recycling centre as soon as they reopen again after the festive season.

They also suggest property marking the new belongings using an ultraviolet pen to help make tracing stolen items easier.

For more information, go to securedbydesign.com.