North-South divide when it comes to car crime

North-South divide when it comes to car crime

Records released by the Police through freedom of information (FOI) requests show that a significant amount of car crime in England happens in the cities 'up-North' when compared with their Southern cousins.

The data received, which covers the time period between October 2011 and September 2012, shows that 5% of vehicles (505 per 10,000 vehicles) were involved in a recorded offence in Manchester, compared to the national urban average of 2.4% (242 per 10,000 vehicles). So, this is over double the national average for urban areas.

Numbers are similar in other Northern cities, with 4.5% of vehicles in Bradford involved in a reported crime, and 4.2% of vehicles in Leeds also in such a situation. Both cities are approaching double the national urban average. Sheffield also had a rate of 3.9% of vehicles involved in a reported crime.

Also coming in above the nation average for car crimes were Newcastle, with 3.1% of it's registered vehicles being affected or involved in crime, and Liverpool, with 2.9% affected so.

The only city in the South of England to appear in the top 10 cities for crime was London, of which 4.4% of it's registered vehicles were involved in a crime of some sort.

This data draws attention to an appalling North-South divide when it comes to car crime. Because of more instances of theft and vandalism, drivers in the North of England may indeed see their insurance premiums rise because of no fault of their own. Care should always be taken when parking in an unknown area of any city.

---

---