Thurrock has worst car crime rates in Essex (From Thurrock Gazette)

Thurrock has worst car crime rates in Essex

3:37pm Friday 31st July 2009

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THURROCK has the highest rates of car crime in Essex.

New figures on recorded crime for 2008-2009 show that Thurrock has the highest incidences of car theft, theft of property from a car, and interference with cars in the county.

There were 810 offences of car theft in the borough, compared to 510 in Basildon which was second, and 452 in Southend.

This means that for every 1000 of the population in the borough, five people fell victim to car theft.

There were 1,361 offences of thefts from cars recorded in Thurrock, ahead of Basildon which had 1,245, and Epping Forest with 974 offences.

More vehicles were interfered with in Thurrock than anywhere else in Essex, with 196 incidents, compared to 164 in Basildon and 122 in Southend.

But despite topping the tables, the figures actually show that car crime in Thurrock is going down.

Car theft has dropped 18 per cent on 2007-2008, theft from a car is down 24 per cent, while interfering with a car has dropped by 21 per cent.

Operational Superintendent for Thurrock and Basildon, Steve Worron said: “All forms of auto-crime are a priority for police and our partners in Thurrock.

“In order to increase the safety of those who use the road and to deny criminals the opportunity to use the road network and to reduce the likelihood of residents becoming victims of crime, a number of operations have been mounted against these offenders who seek to steal vehicles.

“The police and our partners have overseen the installation of additional ANPR equipment and work with our partners closely to reduce this and all types of crime.

“The plans and operations put in place recognise the challenges faced in Thurrock and have seen a reduction in vehicle crime by 34% in the last three months, compared to the same period last year.”

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