Thieves are on the lookout for vehicles left with the engines running by careless owners.

The cold weather gripping much of Britain has left thousands of motorists to be greeted by a frozen windscreen when they leave for work in the morning.

Instead of using a de-icer spray or a scraper, some people leave the engine running and go back inside while the heater warms up.

While this might save on elbow grease it could be an expensive mistake as, according to insurers, there is a rise in theft claims during colder weather as opportunistic criminals enjoy some easy pickings.

"They might know when someone goes to work every day at a certain time and a criminally minded person would wait there," said Graeme Trudgill, technical and corporate affairs director at the BIBA.

"Or it could even be an opportune moment where someone is just passing and they see the car warming up and in they get and off they go."

This practice of lying in wait for drivers to leave their cars warming up is known as 'frosting'.

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