Northants 'fourth worst in UK' for number of car thefts, claims report

Northamptonshire is the fourth worst area in the UK for car theft, according to new figures published today.
Northamptonshire has the fourth highest number of car thefts in the UK, according to a new reportNorthamptonshire has the fourth highest number of car thefts in the UK, according to a new report
Northamptonshire has the fourth highest number of car thefts in the UK, according to a new report

Figures obtained through a Freedom of Information request, show that between 2014 and 2016, a total of 7,991 cars were stolen between 2014 and 2016 in the county.

Only London, the West Midlands and Scotland had higher numbers of car theft. In comparison, areas such as Manchester, Merseyside, Northern Ireland and Nottinghamshire had lower numbers of care theft.

The figures were compiled by car insurance company, esure.

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According to their report, across the country about 70,000 vehicles are stolen each year but just one in 10 crimes result in the thief being caught and charged.

A spokesman said: "The problem is that four in 10 care thefts are not investigated by UK police forces and the majority of thefts from vehicles, eight in 10, are not investigated.

"While there are fewer police officers dedicated to stolen vehicle recover, police budget cuts and overstretched resources, more stolen cars are likely to be exported making them harder to recover," he said.

Jon Wilshire, chief underwriting officer at esure, added: “Car crime is up in many areas across the country despite cars becoming increasingly hard to steal. These statistics suggest that part of the reason for this trend is that thieves know they can get away with it as they are unlikely to get caught, and even if they do very few face a custodial sentence – demonstrated in the re-offender rates.“Stealing a modern car without keys is difficult so the majority of thefts we see are when thieves get hold of car keys either by breaking into a property or stealing them from personal belongings. In addition, thieves have adapted to modern security technology, developing techniques to combat keyless entry systems and immobilisers.“Drivers need to keep their car keys in a safe place away from windows and front doors and consider fitting a tracker if their vehicle is expensive.”