South West Beds MP Andrew Selous is urging people not to leave belongings in their cars, even if they are out of sight.

His warning comes after his own car boot was broken into at a car park in Leighton Buzzard, while he was attending the induction of a new vicar.

Mr Selous went to the function straight after work, which meant he had a number of briefcase type bags with him, containing parliamentary paperwork.

He left the bags in the boot of his car, but when he returned to it found the car had been broken into and one of his bags was missing.

He said: "Never ever leave anything in your car. I felt it would have looked a little bit messy to go into a church with a lot of briefcases. In retrospect I wish I had now."

It's not the first time Mr Selous has been the victim of such a crime.

He said: "When people complain to me about crime and so on, I have a personal experience of it. My car was broken into in central Dunstable almost a year ago, so that is two in a year, and my mobile phone was stolen on a train a year and a half a go. I'm aware of how upsetting these things are."

The bag stolen last week was black canvas, with brown plastic piping on it, and with a brown canvas shoulder strap.

Anyone who finds the bag is asked to call Mr Selous' office on 01582 662821.