West Yorkshire is still the worst area for burglary outside of London according to new research, despite police saying they have cut down on last year’s figure by 18 per cent.
Figures released by the Office for National Statistics show that West Yorkshire Police recorded 13 burglaries per 1,000 people living in the area last year – compared with a national average of nine per 1,000.
In a separate study by MoneySupermarket, five areas of Leeds made the list of the country’s top 20 worst-hit areas according to insurance claims following raids on homes.
Residents in the LS13 postcode areas of Bramley, Gamble Hill, Moorside, Rodley and Swinnow topped the comparison website’s list, meaning residents are more likely than people anywhere else in the UK to make a claim on their policy.
Horsforth (LS18) came seventh, followed by Calverley, Farsley, Pudsey and Stanningley (LS28) in 10th place.
Aberford, Ferry Fryston, Garforth, Hillam, Kippax, Ledsham, Micklefield, Monk Fryston and Sherburn-in-Elmet (LS25) ranked 15th and Armley, Farnley, New Farnley and Wortley (LS12) were at number 19.
Bradford also dominated the top 20, with five areas of the city featuring.
Across Yorkshire, the burglary rate was 11 per 1,000 residents – the highest rate of any region outside London, although the number recorded has fallen by 13 per cent since the previous year to 59,743.
Yorkshire’s overall crime rate was again the highest outside London, although the total number of crimes recorded has fallen by nine per cent to 369,207.
Mark Burns-Williamson, West Yorkshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner, said: “It is particularly good to see that there has been less violent crime overall.
“However, we continue to suffer with a high burglary rate and although these figures show a clear drop we are still high when compared to other forces.
“I will be including burglary as a priority in the Police and Crime Plan 2013/14 and to make sure people in West Yorkshire feel safer and are safer in their communities.
“I intend to raise my concerns about burglary levels with the Chief Constable and look at ways of working to continue to drive burglary down and move us much closer to the national average.”
Compared with last year, figures show that there were 17,929 fewer victims of crime, burglary of homes was down by 27 percent, vehicle crime dropped by 12 percent, violent crime was down by 11 percent and robbery was reduced by 11 percent.
West Yorkshire Police’s Temporary Chief Constable John Parkinson said: “Our commitment to neighbourhood policing is stronger than ever before and is helping to deliver the local policing service residents want.
“However, cuts to our resources mean that we face challenging times.”
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