ROSSENDALE and Darwen MP Jake Berry has been the victim of a double car theft outside his constituency home.

Two vehicles, a blue Land Rover 90 and a '61' plate silver Volkswagen Golf, were taken from the MP’s house in Helmshore overnight on Saturday.

The Land Rover belonged to Mr Berry, and the Golf belonged to his wife, Charlotte, and neither car has been recovered.

It is believed the offenders broke into one of the cars, where they found the keys to the second vehicle. It is unclear how the thieves managed to break into the first car.

The theft happened between 10pm on Saturday night, and 10am the following morning.

Mr Berry said: “Rossendale and Darwen is one of the safest places to live in Lancashire and having lived here for more than seven years, I have never once been concerned about crime.

Lancashire Telegraph:

“I do believe this is a one-off situation, but if anyone has seen the cars I would be grateful for any information.

“The police were amazing on the day and I’d like to put on record my thanks to them.”

Mr Berry has previously been a strong advocate of policing, On the Conservative Party website the MP said: “We all want our community to be safe. That’s why I fought the threat of police station closures. Crime is now down in Lancashire by 10 per cent.”

A Lancashire Police spokesman said: “An investigation is under way. Anyone with information, or who saw anything on the night in question can call police on 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.”