Â鶹Éç

Its a crime that's risen dramatically during lockdown in Dorset and across the UK.
Catalytic converter thefts are happening on the street, in car parks, even in our own driveways.
The cat is a metal box that is part of a car's exhaust system and it is designed to remove toxic gases.
But precious metals coating the honeycomb filter like rhodium, palladium and platinum are attracting thieves in greater numbers. In the past year, the cost of rhodium has risen 200 per cent, and is now worth nearly six times as much as gold.
Stolen catalytic converters can fetch around £500 on the black market and it's taking criminals less than a minute to jack up a car and cut them off an exhaust system.
LV= General Insurance told Â鶹Éç Radio Solent it's seen a 966% increase in catalytic converter thefts in the last three years (2018 – 2020), and that those numbers are set to increase further in 2021.
The company added that vehicles targeted by thieves tend to be older models with an average vehicle age of eleven years. LV told us that Toyota, Honda and Lexus are the most targeted brands, while the most popular models are Prius, Auris, Jazz, CRV and Accord
Postal worker Sharon lives in Weymouth. She became a catalytic converter theft victim after driving her 2007 Lexus hybrid to Dorchester to start an early shift. Â鶹Éç Radio Solent's Laurence Herdman went to meet her.