Men's Room

Where are you least likely to get burgled?

Burglary hotspots - crime scene - police force - robbery evidence The northern town of Preston has been named as the place in Britain where residents are least likely to be burgled.

The former mill town holds an impressive burglary rate of 66.6% below the national average with Norwich, Ipswich, and Guildford just behind it, according to a new survey compiled by Endsleigh Insurance.

Meanwhile, London, has overtaken Nottingham as the city most at risk from home robberies. In 2006 Nottingham was named the crime capital of Britain by the think tank Reform.

London's burglary rate was an alarming 55.4% above the national average, followed by Nottingham (50.5%) and Bristol and Cambridge (both with 48.6%).

Endsleigh analysed tens of thousands of household theft claims over the past four years by its customer base to come up with the results.

It should be noted that the study is based on the percentage of claims against the number of Endsleigh policyholders, rather than the total number of claims.

Residents in Hove, Sussex, were deemed the most accident prone, with insurance claims 38.9% above the national average. Behind Hove were Milton Keynes, Brighton, Newport and Cheltenham. The fewest home accidental damage claims occurred in Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool.

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Rhiannon Harris, an Endsleigh spokesman, claimed that domestic burglary figures had dropped substantially over the past decade, but she did, however, add that: "Burglary rates have spiked recently, and, according to the government, that could be as a result of the economic recession we are experiencing.

"It is, therefore, more vital than ever that homeowners take extra care when leaving their property for any period of time."

She stresses that regardless of location, every householder in Britain needed to be aware of the possibility of burglary.

Top 10 riskiest places for burglary:

1. London 55.5%

2. Nottingham 50.5%

=3. Bristol 48.6%

=3. Cambridge 48.6%

5. Manchester 48.2%

6. Reading 42.7%

7. Stockport 37.6%

8. Hull 37.1%

9. Leeds 32.4%