Christmas thefts rocket 22% in a year

THEFTs, burglaries and robberies over the Christmas fortnight are soaring year on year, research has found.

There were an average of 1,083 thefts, 448 burglaries and 65 robberies on each day of the festive holidays last year.

The overall number of burglaries recorded in England and Wales throughout the same period had risen to 6,278 in the 2016 to 2017 financial year, from 5,524 in 2015/16, crime statistics showed. Thefts increased by 22 per cent to more than 15,000 throughout the two-week Christmas period, compared to 12,398 the year before.

Analysis of Freedom of information requests by the liberal Democrats also found that robberies had risen by 28 per cent from 770 in 2015/16 to 983 in 2016/17.

it comes as one in eight Britons have failed to spot a single police officer patrolling their neighbourhoods in the last year, according to the independent police watchdog. People leaving their homes unattended to visit their families for Christmas and New Year could explain the rise.

Ed Davey, the lib Dem home affairs spokesman, told The Daily Telegraph: ‘People need to be extra vigilant and keep their valuable possessions properly secure.

‘The police also need more investment so they can tackle soaring rates of crime.’

Only 33 of 43 forces answered the Freedom of information request. The largest force, the Met, did not provide figures.