The Made in Chelsea cast and hangers-on should keep an eye on their BMWs and Range Rovers after a troubling map revealed the riskiest places to park a car in London – check your postcode to see how it compares where you live.
Using hyperlocal crime data, MyLondon has mapped the locations where cars, vans and motorbikes are most likely to be stolen, broken into, damaged, or vandalised. Last year, police recorded more than 340,000 cases of vehicle crime, which includes theft from or of a vehicle, or any attempt to interfere with it.
Crime figures show that, unsurprisingly, cars and other vehicles were most at risk of being stolen, broken into, or damaged in busy city centres, airports, or other locations with plenty of long-stay parking.
The Fitzrovia West & Soho neighbourhood had more vehicle crime than anywhere else in England and Wales, with 883 crime reports. That’s the equivalent of one car, van, or bike being stolen, broken into, damaged or tampered with every 10 hours.
In London, that was followed by Strand, St James & Mayfair in Westminster (724 crimes), and then the Knightsbridge, Belgravia & Hyde Park area (448). But residents living in the exclusive Kensington and Chelsea neighbourhood of Hans Town probably have more reason to fear for vehicles parked at home than people living anywhere else.
This neighbourhood, adjacent to Sloane Square (which was itself formerly called Hans Town after the naturalist Sir Hans Sloane), is known for the wealth of its residents and frequenters and rarely features in lists of the most crime-ridden areas, with the sole exception of vehicle crime.
The area’s affluence was so renowned that the nickname ‘Sloane Ranger’ was coined to describe a stereotypical upper-middle-class or upper-class person embodying a particular style. But it is now more closely associated with the reality TV show Made in Chelsea.
Last year, there were 440 crime reports of vehicles stolen, damaged, or broken into in Hans Town. Compared to the size of the population, that was a rate of 71 crimes for every 1,000 residents – or the equivalent of one in every 14 people living in Hans Town suffering from some form of vehicle crime in the last year alone.
Areas outside the main tourist hotspots of London with high rates of vehicle crime include Chiswick Park in Hounslow (333 crime reports, a rate of 37 per 1,000 residents), Brent Cross & Staples Corner in Barnet (243 crimes, a rate of 35), and Hanger Hill East, Ealing (231 crimes, a rate of 29).
Got a tip, a court date, or some gossip? Please email [email protected] or WhatsApp 07580255582.
Don’t miss out on the latest crime stories from across London. Sign up to MyLondon’s Court & Crime newsletter HERE.
