West Bromwich named in worst break-in hotspots list
West Bromwich has been named as one of the worst areas outside London for burglaries, new figures have revealed.
Analysis of two million home insurance files identified the B70 area of West Bromwich as the region's burglary capital.
It is placed 11th in the top 20 worst areas in England, according to MoneySuperMarket, which saw the area rack up the rate of 45 claims per 1,000 quotes.
Councillor Mohinder Tagger said: "Obviously this is not good news at all for the area, and something I find very disturbing being a ward councillor.
"We will look to work very closely with police and attempt to implement further plans to make homes and business safer in the B70 area.
"It's not the reputation West Bromwich is looking for and we will do all we can to work towards changing this around."
London dominates the top ten in the study, including east London areas Clayhall, Redbridge and Gants Hill.
Affluent North Kensington (W10) also appears in the top 20 with 44.9 claims per 1,000 quotes, as do North London suburbs Whetstone (N20), Cockfosters (EN4) and New Southgate (N11).
Manchester (M21), Leeds (LS5) and Milton Keynes postcodes (MK46) also feature in the top 20.
Last week West Midlands Police revealed the number of criminal offences recorded has risen slightly, but new figures show regional crime rates are markedly below the national average.
West Midlands Police Assistant Chief Constable Carl Foulkes said: "Crime trends in the West Midlands are roughly in line with the national picture but crime rates in the West Midlands are lower than in other comparable urban areas. The increase in the recording and reporting of sex offences demonstrates that victims are finding the confidence to disclose offences to our officers."
Figures from the Office for National Statistics reveal a two per cent increase in overall crime in the West Midlands, for the 12-month period to September 2015, compared to a six per cent rise across the whole country.
Levels of burglary, robbery and personal thefts all continue to fall, down by nine, seven and seventeen per cent respectively, but violent offences are up by 13 per cent on the previous 12 months.
Kevin Pratt, from MoneySuperMarket, said: "Our findings suggest thieves favour busy urban areas where strangers are unlikely to be spotted and it's easy to make a quick getaway. But leafy suburbs are also heavily targeted, with burglars following the money to affluent areas.
