A HOME Office minister has conceded that the Government's drive to improve car security is partly to blame for the rise in car-jacking incidents.

Bob Ainsworth MP, parliamentary secretary at the Home Office, said: 'The increase in violent theft of cars and burglaries is possibly a result of the increased security for new vehicles that follows Government pressure to make cars more difficult to steal.

'It is massively unfortunate that so-called 'car-jacking' stems in part from our success.'

However, he rejected the idea that the Government will pass new legislation to identify car-jacking as a separate offence, saying that where there is a threat or use of violence, the 'offence is robbery, which carries a maximum penalty of life.'

He said the Government supported the use of tracking devices, but admitted that at an average price of £400 these were beyond the means of the majority of motorists.

The Home Office has recently published a car theft index with the aim of offering a guide to car security, similar to the safety guidance provided by the European New Car Assessment Programme crash tests.