Silent Crime: Pickpocketing hotspots in England and Wales revealed with crime on the rise in UK

It comes as NationalWorld continues to shine a light on under-reported and unresolved crimes which are impacting communities within the UK with the ‘Silent Crime’ campaign. As part of the campaign, we want to hear about your experience with low-level and nuisance crime - to get in touch, click here.

The research comes from security company Churchill Support Services, which has collated the latest crime data from the Office for National Statistic to determine the area throughout England and Wales which have become a hotbed for pickpocketing.

Understandably, topping the list is London, with a rate of 9.1 offences per 1,000 people. The worst borough in the capital for pickpocketing is Westminster, which registers 133.2 incidences per 1,000.

Elsewhere in England and Wales, there was a rate of 2.2 pickpocketing offences per 1,000 people on average. The top ten areas with the worst pickpocketing rates outside of London are:

1. Manchester - 8 offences per 1,000 people
2. Oxford - 3.5 offences per 1,000 people
3. Cambridge - 2.8 offences per 1,000 people
4. Liverpool - 2.6 offences per 1,000 people
5. Watford - 2.4 offences per 1,000 people
6. Newcastle-upon-Tyne - 2.3 offences per 1,000 people
7. Reading - 2.2 offences per 1,000 people
8. Leeds - 1.9 offences per 1,000 people
9. Nottingham - 1.8 offences per 1,000 people
10. Brighton & Hove - 1.8 offences per 1,000 people

While some areas didn’t make the top ten, there has been a significant increase in pickpocketing, with 17% more reports overall. Cornwall has seen offences rise by 74%, North Tyneside by 69%, and Gateshead by 56%.

However, reports of theft from a person has fallen in some areas. Reports in Stockton-on-Tees fell by 48%, while Warrington and South Worcester fell by 47% and 46% respectively.

The North West is the hotspot for pickpocketing outside of London, accounting for 27.7% of reports. On the flipside, Wales only accounted for 3.9% of overall reports.