Sussex residents are being urged to join the battle against burglars by logging their valuables on a national website.

Immobilise is the world's largest property register and allows police and the public to work together to make stolen items too hot to handle.

People can enter the details of their possessions on the free website, making it more likely that police can return them if stolen.

Police can check items they find or seize against the database.

By confirming that the seized items had been stolen, officers can then look to prosecute whoever they were seized from for burglary or handling stolen goods, returning the valuables to their rightful owners.

Sussex Police is encouraging residents to use Immobilise as part of Operation Magpie, the force's crackdown on burglary across the county.

Detective Chief Inspector Paul Betts said: "Better information greatly increases the chances of us being able to reunite stolen property with its rightful owner, helps us to get a better picture of which burglaries could be linked and gives us the evidence we need to prove that property is stolen.

"That helps us to link items to burglars and those trading in stolen goods and means we can get offenders off the streets and into the courts."

Katy Bourne, Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner, is backing the campaign.

She said: "I'd like to see as many residents as possible playing their part in helping to beat burglary in Sussex.

"As well as making it easier for the police to track down registered owners, it can also act as a deterrent as it makes it harder for thieves to sell items on because they can be identified."

About 25 million people use Immobilise and every week hundreds of people are reunited with their lost or stolen property because of the site.

They can use the website to access a list of all their property and print off certificates of ownership if they need to make a claim to their insurance company.

For more information, visit www.immobilise.com.