(April 2, 2011) This is incredible, but in the UK stolen car keys account for nearly all automobile thefts.

Here's the thing. The latest figures from TRACKER, experts in stolen vehicle recovery in the UK, confirm that theft of cars using the owners’ keys continues to rise — 84% of all cars stolen and recovered by TRACKER in 2010 involved theft of keys. 

With a staggering £15.8 million ($25.6 million) worth of vehicles reported to TRACKER last year as being illegally taken using the owners keys, the stolen vehicle recovery expert reminds households to safeguard their car keys at all times to avoid giving thieves a free ride.

“In 2010, the number of car thefts involving keys rose to 84%, compared to 80% in 2009 and 74% in 2008,” says Stephen Doran, managing director for TRACKER.

“A 10% increase in two years clearly demonstrates how stealing vehicles by breaking into them has become much more challenging for criminals. The reality of these figures is that car thieves now need to break into homes to steal keys or worse, physically take the keys from owners by force."

Doran concludes, “The theft of the family car will have a major impact on that family, particularly given many families have scaled down to be a one car household. We advise people to reassess their security measures.

"We all fall foul of leaving keys laying on around the house, but the first line of defense should be to put them somewhere out of site, such as in a draw or cupboard.  People should also look at installing a tracking device which should result in the speedy recovery of their vehicle in the event of it being stolen.”