WHEELIE bins can be used by burglars and criminals to access your home, police have warned.

Here are five ways that they could be used by criminals:

1. As a climbing aid to scale your garden wall or fence.

2. To work out if you at are home or not. Wheelie bins left out in the street highlight that you may not have returned home yet.

3. As a handy way to remove items they've stolen from your home.

4. To find out more about you. Discarded letters and documents can be used in identity theft.

5. To start a small fire, which may then easily spread out of control.

So what can you do?

Keep your bins out of sight, secure and stored away, if possible, until collection day.

On collection day, ask a trusted neighbour to collect your bins from off the side of the road after they've been emptied. Destroy any discarded personal documentation, preferably by shredding it.

For advice more information you can contact a member of your Safer Neighbourhood Team via 101.