Four cars stolen outside Co Kildare homes in the past week

Four cars were stolen in a wave of auto thefts across Co Kildare in the past seven days.

Expensive vehicles were taken from outside homes in Maynooth, Sallins, Leixlip and Kildare Town.

On Sunday night, a BMW X5 jeep with a Northern registration was taken from the Straffan Wood estate in Maynooth.

Elsewhere, a silver Mercedes was taken from Sallins Wood in Sallins between Friday night and Saturday morning.

The owner's house had earlier been broken into and the keys were found while he was away for the night.

In Leixlip, a Ford Mondeo was taken but it was found in Clondalkin in West Dublin with different plates on Sunday.

A Hyundai ix35 jeep was also taken from a home in Curragh Finn in Kildare Town.

The registration number is 151 KE 3807 but it may have different plates now.

Meanwhile, Naas gardai also issued a general warning about 'key blocker' devices which can intercept the locking mechanism on vehicles, usually in car parks.

Officers said to always manually check the handle of the door to ensure the locking has worked.