A NEW form of car security, tried and tested on the streets of Johannesburg, is to be made available to British motorists for the first time this month (Oct).

KeyGuard from mycarcheck.com uses the latest chip & pin technology to completely immobilise car thieves who have perfected the art of stealing the keys to vehicles.

Police forces across the country have issued warnings to home owners to keep their vehicle's keys out of sight as organised gangs resort to a range of desperate measures to steal cars.

More than 85 per cent of vehicles, registered after 1997, are stolen using a key, many of which are taken during house burglaries. It is estimated that at least 37 per cent of break-ins are carried out solely with the intention of stealing car keys.

Now, even if criminals are able to get hold of the keys they will be unable to take a vehicle without knowing the secret pin code of the owner.

"Everybody is familiar with Chip and PIN for their bank cards, well this is essentially the same but for cars," said Roger Powell, General Manager of mycarcheck.com, the UK’s fastest growing vehicle data checking company, which has teamed up with AutoWatch to bring KeyGuard to UK motorists.

"Modern cars have become so sophisticated that it is now almost impossible to steal them without keys. Criminals are going to ever greater lengths to get them, breaking into houses, stealing handbags and even fishing through letter boxes to reach keys left in view on hallway tables."

"However, with KeyGuard, even if they get the keys it is highly unlikely they’ll be driving off anywhere unless they are psychic."

The system works by installing a control module inside the vehicle which controls the engine's management system. The module is operated by a small transponder key which has a keypad for entering a PIN number.

"With KeyGuard there is a special protocol to get the management system into alert mode to accept a new key. In the old days a thief could simply go to the locksmith and get him to cut another key which would let him into the car and start the engine." said Malcolm Reardon, Managing Director of AutoWatch, the UK arm of the PFK electronics group which started in South Africa in 1985.

"Today, if I went to a car dealership and tried to buy a spare key they wouldn’t sell it to me. Even if I had an insider who nicked a spare key for me it would still be a problem because although I had a key cut to the right barrel I would still need to get the engine management system into programme mode in order to accept it."

"Without the correct PIN the car’s engine simply won’t engage."

"If somebody does get hold of a set of car keys and enters the wrong number three times in a row the system shuts down the engine management system for five minutes. During those five minutes every time they try and fail, it resets and puts another five minutes on the clock."

The insurance industry has also taken an interest and it will be likely that owners of vehicles with the Keyguard fitted will be paying lower premiums for their car insurance.

The new device, which is available from mycarcheck.com for under £150.00, can be fitted to almost any vehicle which has a 12-volt battery. Nationwide Autocentres can fit Keyguard to the majority of UK vehicles, a service that is included in the retail price.

For more information on this product please visit mycarcheck.com or call 01436 821206.