THE Volkswagen Passat is the hardest car in Britain to steal, according to new research from the Consumers Association which tested security on 35 of the country's best-selling superminis, lower medium and upper medium sector models. The Association concluded that while manufacturers have spent billions of pounds stopping thieves from stealing cars, those same thieves are having a smashing time stealing valuables from those same cars.

While the Passat was rated as the hardest to steal of those on test, the Ford Ka and Ford Escort top the supermini and lower medium sector charts with the Ford Mondeo, BMW 3-series and Toyota Avensis scoring highly in the upper medium sector. Vauxhalls also scored well. The cars rated the easiest to steal of those tested included the Fiat Punto, Volkswagen Polo, Honda Civic, Fiat Bravo, Volkswagen Golf, Rover 600 and Renault Laguna.

However, the Association said cars were far to easy to steal from with the Fiat Cinquecento, SEAT Arosa, Volkswagen Polo, Mazda 323, Volkswagen Golf and Chrysler Neon all given poor scores. More than 1,000 cars are stolen in the UK each day.