Fleet vehicle operators are being warned to protect their vehicles as the theft of catalytic converters reaches epidemic proportions.

According to the latest figures, thefts of catalytic converters from exhaust pipes, especially from 4x4s and heavier vehicles, have doubled from 1,100 incidents to 2,300 during the past six months. Thieves are after the platinum, palladium and rhodium in the converters.

Business fleets are especially vulnerable because thieves can hit multiple vehicles in a single location.

Police advise operators to park vehicles in well lit, locked areas and to engrave licence plate numbers on the converters.