RESIDENTS along the border have been warned to ensure that their property is properly secure.
It follows a spike in car crime in the Carrigans and Killea areas in recent weeks.
Three males were reported to have been disturbed while trying to gain entry to a shed outside Carrigans on Tuesday night.
Two nights beforehand, a car in Killea was ransacked and thieves made off with two mobile phone.
“There has been a rise in these incidents over the last few weeks and I’d urge people to get the prevention in,” local Fianna Fail Councillor Paul Canning told Donegal Daily.
“People in the likes of Killea, Carrigans, St Johnston and places close to the border have to be more vigilent than in other areas of the county because access away from these areas are easier.
“People should make sure that their cars are locked, their sheds are locked, alarms are working.
“The problem here is that the culprits find it easy to make off across the border. That’s not to say that it’s people from the north carrying out the crimes, either, but it’s just an easier get-away because the patrol car can’t cross the border.”
Regarding Garda numbers in the area, Councillor Canning added: “There is a presence there. The patrol car probably needs a better presence. It’s something I will be speaking to the Superindendent about.
“But at the moment, there are patrols out there, more than people would think, in unmarked cars.”