CHELTENHAM police are reminding the public this Christmas to check their doors are locked before heading to bed or out for the night to help prevent thieves from stealing.

Two burglaries in Cheltenham happened overnight between Sunday, December 1 and Monday, December 2. Burglars are believed to have got in through unlocked doors and in one of the homes wrapped Christmas presents were stolen.

Between 9.30pm on Sunday and 6.30am on Monday a thief entered the back garden of a home on Windrush House and went inside via an unlocked back door. They stole a laptop, iphone, a pair of Levi jeans and £17 in cash.

The same night a home on Pennine Road was burgled. Three wrapped Christmas presents, a laptop, a Samsung mobile phone, an LG mobile phone, a Nintendo Wii, three bottles of wine, a tin of baked beans and a Gucci handbag were stolen.

Anyone with any information about either burglary is asked to call Gloucestershire Police on 101 quoting incident number 51 of December 2.

Information can also be given anonymously by calling Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Home security advice on the run up to Christmas is:

• Ensure windows and doors are locked at night or when leaving the house.

• Keep presents out of sight for as long as possible.

• If storing larger items such as bicycles in the shed or garage, make sure they are secure too.

• Make a note of the frame numbers of new bicycles and the serial numbers of new electrical items.

• Empty boxes left outside advertise you have new items inside so dispose of packing carefully.