Manchester the worst city for car crime

An analysis of 515,248 UK police force records obtained by consumer motoring champion, HonestJohn.co.uk, has revealed that cities in the North of England are the worst affected by car crime, with Manchester topping the league table. Between October 2011 and September 2012, 505 offences per 10,000 registered vehicles were reported in central Manchester. This figure is four times the national average for car crime, which HonestJohn.co.uk calculated as 121 offences per 10,000 vehicles. Even taking into account the higher levels of car crimes in urban areas, in part associated with the greater influx of vehicles entering city centres, the rate of reported offences was still 2.1 times the national 'urban' average of 242 offences per 10,000 vehicles.

West Yorkshire emerged as another car crime hotspot, with Bradford seeing an average of 457 crimes per 10,000 vehicles, followed by Leeds with a slightly lower offences rate of 420. Other northern cities badly affected by car crime includes Sheffield whose rate was 1.7 times the national urban average at 389 offences per 10,000 vehicles, Newcastle with 318 offences per 10,000 vehicles and Liverpool with a rate of 287.

London was the only southern city to feature in the top ten worst cities in HonestJohn.co.uk’s Car Crime Census, with a rate of 443 crimes per 10,000 vehicles.

The research by HonestJohn.co.uk involved examining thousands of records released by 42 police forces, upon a Freedom of Information request in addition to data that’s available through police.uk. Now HonestJohn.co.uk is publishing it as the HonestJohn.co.uk Car Crime Census 2013 at honestjohn.co.uk/crime – the first time this information has ever been available to the public in such detail. 

Daniel Harrison, editor of HonestJohn.co.uk, said: “This data is the first of its kind because it’s based on the actual police force records from across the UK. What it highlights is a shocking north-south divide, with London representing the only southern district listed in the top 10. We hope the HonestJohn.co.uk Car Crime Census will alert drivers to be more cautious when parking their cars in those areas that we now know are the most at risk. It will also help them, particularly first time buyers, to anticipate their insurance premiums.”

The HonestJohn.co.uk Car Crime Census 2013 allows motorists to find the car crime rate for their postcode, and even pinpoint their own street. In addition to highlighting problem cars and manufacturers, motorist can see the type of crime that is most commonly committed in their area.

The data reveals that 41 per cent of all offences were based on theft from a vehicle, making it the most common type of car crime in the UK. The second most reported offence was criminal damage with 40 per cent of cars affected, followed by theft of a car at 16 per cent. 

Car crime rate breakdown by city