The worst cities for car crime

10 worst cities in England and Wales for car crime

The car crime census data provided by Honest John website gives us a useful insight into the car criminals loves and hates as well as the locations which are most vulnerable. They have collected all of the data and worked out the ten cities across the UK which are the worst for car crime of all types including theft of a vehicle, theft from a vehicle and criminal damage or interfering with a vehicle. Maybe its worth thinking about a low cost solution in the form of a tracking device to recover and help bring some car criminals to justice.

Across the UK the overall average car crime rate is 121 per 10,000 vehicles, however that rate rises for urban areas to 242 per 10,000 vehicles. Below shows the 10 worst cities and a educated reason for why they may be in these position:

10 Bristol – 255 per 10,000 vehicles

Bristol is small relative to the towns at the top of this list but that probably works in its favour. It’s not as densely populated as places like Birmingham or London and so there are fewer people and fewer cars than there are in those towns. That said it has an above average car crime rate per 10,000 vehicles, so it does make this list, but the number isn’t significantly higher than the urban average.

9 Cardiff – 285 per 10,000 vehicles

Wales is generally a fairly sparsely populated country and consequently most areas have a low car crime rate, but, as is the case all over, the built up places are more at risk thanks to the increased number of cars registered, along with a higher number of visiting people commuting to work and visiting shopping areas. This is the case with Cardiff, though the bottom of this list features towns with rates that aren’t massively above the urban average.

8 Liverpool – 287 per 10,000 vehicles

Liverpool may be well known but it’s not actually a huge city – probably because growth is limited by the presence of the river and the sea. That said these rates are per 10,000 vehicles and so they are comparable with other cities in the list. Liverpool does, however, fall under the rate of 300 car crimes per 10,000 vehicles and consequently it, along with the other towns in bottom half of this list, isn’t far off the average urban rate of 242 per 10,000 vehicles.

7 Birmingham – 313 per 10,000 vehicles

Birmingham is one of the largest cities in the UK and has a massive population and a sprawling central area filled with offices, businesses and shopping areas. These all add up to a high throughput of vehicles, a factor which will increase the rate of car crime relative to the number of vehicles registered in the area.

6 Newcastle-upon-Tyne – 318 per 10,000 vehicles

This data concentrates on the very central areas of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, which aren’t necessarily densely populated, but rather have a lot of shopping areas and plenty of cars. This goes some way to explaining why there is a fairly high car crime rate for the city.

5 Sheffield – 389 per 10,000 vehicles

Another Yorkshire town to appear in the top ten list is Sheffield. At its very centre there’s a high number of businesses and fewer residential areas – that means lots of visiting traffic that pushes up crime rates in those particular areas.As with all urban areas there’s a high population density – that means more vehicles and a higher likelihood of there being criminals operating in that area.

4 Leeds – 420 per 10,000 vehicles

Very close to Bradford and with a similar crime rate is Leeds. It’s home to a fair share of popular visitor attractions, meaning plenty of visitors to the city centre and a high number of vehicles for criminals to target in addition to all of the cars owned by Leeds residents. Indeed, according to the Yorkshire Evening Post reporting in June 2013 that Leeds is an insurance hotspot for car crimes, meaning insurers charge more for cars that are registered in some Leeds postcode areas.

3 London – 443 per 10,000 vehicles

London has an incredibly high population density – most residential streets are so filled with vehicles that there’s no space for visitors, meaning ‘residents only’ parking across plenty of boroughs. Not only is there a huge number of vehicles registered to residents, but thousands more come and go every day with tourists and commuters. Such a high number of vehicles is bound to lead to a relatively high rate of car crime. London is in the top three, with 443 offences per 10,000 vehicles. Unfortunately we can’t say whether crimes are related to vehicles registered to Londoners or to those visiting from elsewhere.

2 Bradford – 457 per 10,000 vehicles

Bradford comes in second for the highest rate of car crime across its urban centre. Bradford has its fair share of built up areas with a high throughput of visiting cars, along with plenty of cars owned by residents.West Yorkshire Police is keen to encourage owners to look after their vehicles – in April 2013 it announced that between April 2012 and March 2013 there were more than 150 cases of criminals stealing from cars that were left insecure – so remember to lock up.

1 Manchester – 505 per 10,000 vehicles

Analysing the crime data for postcodes across the central Manchester area returns a crime rate higher than for any other major town or city in the UK. The data covers offences of stealing vehicles, stealing contents from vehicles, damaging vehicles and interfering with vehicles. Manchester is above average though. Identifying why the rate is so high is tricky, but there are lots of areas like shopping districts or spots where there are large car parks filled with vehicles. And if there are more cars there are richer pickings for opportunist criminals.