Vehicle Crime Overview

During 2020, England & Wales's police forces received 339,370 crime reports about vehicle crime. This is a decrease of 28% from 2019's figure of 435,757 reports of vehicle crime, giving an overall crime rate of 6 per 1,000 people in 2020 and a rate of 7 per 1,000 people for 2019.

The most dangeroues cities for vehicle crime are Haringey, Enfield, and Westminster, with crime rates of 18, 17, and 14 per 1,000 residents respectively. The most dangerous region for vehicle crime is London, which recorded a vehicle crime rate of 12 offences per 1,000 people in 2020. The second most dangerous area for vehicle crime is West Midlands, with a crime rate of 9, followed by Bristol in third, with a vehicle crime rate of 9 per 1,000 residents.

The safest area in England and Wales for vehicle crime is Stoke-on-Trent, which had a crime rate of 2.1 in 2020. Next safest is Plymouth, followed by Swansea in third place, with crime rates per 1,000 residents of 2.5 and 2.7 respectively.

Map of Vehicle Crime in the UK

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The Most Dangerous Towns & Cities for Vehicle Crime

PositionNameCrime Rate
1Haringey18.47
2Enfield17.26
3Westminster14.12
4Redbridge13.47
5Hounslow13.43
6Waltham Forest13.36
7Hillingdon13.34
8Ealing13.33
9Brent12.91
10Croydon12.75

The Safest Towns & Cities for Vehicle Crime

PositionNameCrime Rate
1Stoke-on-Trent2.12
2Plymouth2.53
3Swansea2.73
4Belfast City2.85
5Norwich3.13
6Swindon3.65
7Portsmouth3.68
8Milton Keynes3.90
9Kingston upon Hull4.37
10Cardiff4.59

Vehicle Crime Trends

Crime Rate Per 1,000 Residents 
2017201820192020Trend
7.507.677.275.66Safer

Most Dangerous Councils & Counties for Vehicle Crime

PositionNameCrime Rate
1London12.03
2West Midlands9.17
3Bristol8.97
4Bedfordshire8.32
5South Yorkshire7.23
6South Glamorgan7.01
7Berkshire6.74
8Buckinghamshire6.46
9Warwickshire6.36
10Northamptonshire6.13

Last updated: 22 Mar 2021