Phones are more likely to be stolen in Midlands

SMARTPHONES and tablets are more likely to be taken during a theft in Leicestershire than in London, research shows.

Missing electronic devices accounted for 27 per cent of theft reports to City of London Police and the Metropolitan Police. But the figure rose to 51 per cent in Leicestershire, shows data obtained from Freedom of Information requests.

This was much higher than the national average, which was 19 per cent.

However, the total number of such thefts reported has dropped compared with similar data last year, found ViaSat, a security and communications firm which carried out the research. Reports to the Met Police have fallen by 37 per cent, and 34 per cent across the country.

Chris McIntosh, the chief executive of ViaSat, said that personal data on tablets and smartphones were a big draw for criminals. “The simple fact is that, for many thieves, the most tempting target isn’t necessarily the device itself, but what it contains. From access to your bank records, to blackmail, to flat-out identity theft, a lost or stolen device can still damage its owner long after it’s stolen.”

Between March 1 2014 and Feb 2015, there were 77,243 reports of theft involving electronic equipment to London police.

In Leicestershire there were 84,451 such reports.