WARNINGS to motorists that they should keep their car keys out of view are not being heeded.

That's according to vehicle security and monitoring specialists Tracker, which reports that so far in 2004 a massive 80 per cent of the stolen vehicles the company has retrieved have been stolen with the keys.

One high-profile case recently saw the car of a famous celebrity being stolen by thieves who used a fishing rod through a letter box to take the keys from a table within sight of a window.

Since 1999, when car key thefts accounted for nearly one-fifth of all vehicles retrieved by the company, Tracker says it has seen a steady rise in the number of thefts of cars with keys. Prior to 1999, car key thefts remained stable at 10-15 per cent.

Car-jackings, on the other hand, appear to be on the decrease. Car-jacking incidents peaked at 3.3 per cent in 2001 and have fallen year on year ever since. So far in 2004, Tracker has recorded only three vehicle thefts of this style, 0.9 per cent of all Tracker-fitted thefts.

Michelle Healy, marketing manager at Tracker, said: "We are very pleased that vehicle crime overall and car-jacking incidents are going down, this is very good news. The worrying figure is that in our experience car key thefts are happening more frequently.

"It does need to be stressed to all motorists that if they do not want the risk of having their vehicle stolen, then they do need to keep their keys out of sight, not only when they are out, but also in the home."

Ten months ago, Tracker launched the 'Key Aware' initiative in partnership with the Home Office to advise motorists to look after their keys. The message is now being reiterated as, according to Tracker's statistics, car key thefts show no sign of abating.

The Home Office has issued the following advice to motorists:

When you leave your car, always remove the ignition key and lock all doors. Do this all the time, even when filling up with petrol or just popping into the shop. On icy mornings, never leave your car unattended with the engine running to warm it up or defrost the windows.

Always keep your keys in a safe place, which is out of sight and away from windows and doors when you are not using your car.