THE war on car thieves is hotting up but there's a lot more work to be done to cut motor crime figures.

Despite the Government's widely publicised target to cut car crime by 30 per cent in five years, car crime rose in the last 12 months and continues to be a huge problem.

There are over a million thefts of and from motor vehicles every year, accounting for a fifth of all reported crime, and one car-related crime happens every 12 seconds.

But now the screw is being turned on thieves, thanks to persistent campaigning by the Retail Motor Industry Federation.

Motorcycles and commercial vehicles will be included in the proposed Vehicle Identity Check scheme when the Department for Trans-port's new initiative is reviewed next year.

Since the initiative was announced, the RMI had campaigned for the eventual addition of bikes and trucks to the VIC scheme, which will initially cover only cars and light vehicles.

The Department for Trans-port says it hopes to include bikes and trucks from next year.

VIC is intended to help cut down on the practice of ringing or cloning, where criminals swap the identity of a vehicle they have stolen with that of a written-off or scrapped vehicle.

They apply for a duplicate of the vehicle registration document for the write-off, and use it to disguise the stolen vehicle's origins.

The theft of trucks and bikes is as common as that of cars - industry estimates are that around 24,000 bikes and scooters are stolen each year.

Many are broken for parts, which will often be used in the assembly of ringed bikes.

The Vehicle Identity Check Scheme is expected to come into force in spring 2003.

The other welcome news is that carmakers are responding to the theft problem, judging by the record high scores in this year's What Car? security super test.

The results show today's new cars are more secure than ever. None of the 60 cars tested could be driven away without the keys, and almost half could not be broken into.

Leading other manufacturers for the fourth year running was Lexus, its cars taking the top three places in the league table.

While top-class security isn't the exclusive preserve of the most expensive cars, there's still much work to be done.

Some cars could be broken into in less than 10 seconds, while over half failed the two-minute entry test and, therefore, do not meet the Home Office Guidelines which form the basis for the tests.

The full security super test results can be seen in What Car's September issue.