The trendy Manchester suburb of Chorlton has been branded the theft and burglary capital of Britain by insurance researchers.
The south Manchester district has the highest proportion of theft claims by postal area, according to moneysupermarket.com.
Local councillors have slammed the research as 'unfair, broadbrushed and misleading'.
The insurance comparison website analysed over 1.1 million home insurance enquiries made on their site in 2009.
London held ten of the top 20 postcode districts most likely to have made a claim for theft, but the research showed that the M21 area – which includes Chorlton – had the overall highest, with 8.65 percent of homes being affected by theft or burglary.
Nearby Wythenshawe came in seventh place on the top 20 list, with 7.82 percent of houses affected.
The figures have come under heavy criticism from Chorlton councillors.
Councillor Paul Ankers said: “The M21 postcode has two very deprived areas in it and is a vast area with nearly 30,000 people in it.
Spike
“The reporting period was 2009, which covered a massive spike in burglaries, many of which were attributed to one offender, who was caught and imprisoned in the spring of 2009.
“This skews Chorlton's figures dramatically. Much work was done to publicise this, but this report undermines that good work.”
Fellow Chorlton councillor Tony Bethell thought the report was misleading because, to reach the top of the report, an area would have to have a lot of people with insurance.
He said: “Chorlton is a cosmopolitan place where wisely a lot of people have insurance, and in 2009 they claimed. Some of the worse areas in the UK have low insurance take up. Chorlton is at the top, partly, because it has wise and careful people in it. Many of the areas in the report are affluent areas."
Chorlton Neighbourhood police sergeant, Steward Chitty, said: “Without knowing how these figures are put together it is difficult to say how accurate they are in terms of actual crime reports.
“I will accept that burglary is an ongoing issue across Manchester and every burglary that takes place is a burglary too many but all crime is coming down year on year.
“We work closely with the local council to provide regular patrols of key hotspot areas at vulnerable times to deter criminals. We are also currently working to target known offenders in the area to bring them to justice.
“The neighbourhood policing team encourages residents to join or set up Home Watch schemes and to register their property on
www.immobilise.com to ensure that if any items are stolen they can be traced back to them if found.
“One in three burglaries are a result of insecurities so we would always advise residents to keep their homes locked and secure, use a burglar alarm at night or when they are out and to leave lights on to give the impression that someone is home.
“Theft of pedal cycles is another issue in the area of Chorlton. We have neighbourhood officers and plain-clothes officers carrying out an operation across the area to catch thieves in the act.”
Chorlton named nation's burglary capital
August 06, 2010
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Thank God I live in Moston.
It's a shame the councillors deny that this report has a lot of truth in it. I think they should get their heads out of the sand and if it's not there then they should get it out of there backsides.
Am sure GMP said Burglaries were down...perhaps this highlights what defines a Burglary in 'Insurance' terms,as compared to GMP's definition of a Burglary..A 'Loss' with some collateral building damage.
Unless I've misunderstood this is insurance claims rather than reports to the police..
Many in deprived areas don't have contents insurance so no claims..doesn't mean they're not being burgled though...
Slightly misleading..
Because of the prolific nature of the criminals involved, burglary rates are also a measure of how "useless & apathetic" the local police force are.
And er yeah, well done to Chorlton councillor Tony Bethell too for his unbelievably foolish comments:- "Chorlton is at the top, partly, because it has wise and careful people in it" etc.
Has this guy not had media training or what, because those comments are going to draw national media derision down onto Chorlton now. Those sneering BBC journos (who seem to have it in for Manchester, Salford, Ordsall & Oldham etc) are going to love all this!!
Fellow Chorlton councillor Tony Bethell : "Many of the areas in the report are affluent areas."
Well there's not going to be much burglary if there's nothing worth nicking, is there?
DA INSURANCE COMPUTER SAY 2+2 DAT MAKE 100
The Hard Working Family's Champion
I echo your thoughts!
lol
Well, They want to
"Keep Chorlton Interesting"
Surprised to see Chorlton as a burglary hotspot.
Who knew there was such a big black market for dusty bongos, Stone Roses prints, Goa-trance CDs bought from, yeah a rilly cool market in Anjuna, dude and tourist tat Buddhas like, carved from this rilly soulful tree, like so deep in the Thai jungle, man.
Chorlton has an image of being artisan and hip, This image has been painted by a hand full of poetry reading, soya milk swilling, quorn meat munching, scalf wearing, yoga class attending, iphone ogling middle class trust funders that gravitate around the beech road area because they cant quite afford to live in didsbury, the truth is chorlton its a crime ridden cesspit, always has been always will be!
The quote from cllr Bethell " Chorlton is at the top, partly because it has wise and careful people in it".....could they be so wise and careful that the majority of the claims are false....On the other hand Chorlton could be top because most people living there don't know each other or want to know each other so don't look out for each other..at least in poorer areas we have the nosey neighbours, gossips and community "caretakers" who are quick to pass on information and in some cases "act" if and when they see anything suspicious. These are the REAL community police officers
[quote name=squirrelito]Surprised to see Chorlton as a burglary hotspot.
Who knew there was such a big black market for dusty bongos, Stone Roses prints, Goa-trance CDs bought from, yeah a rilly cool market in Anjuna, dude and tourist tat Buddhas like, carved from this rilly soulful tree, like so deep in the Thai jungle, man.[/quote]
Brilliant!!! "but i like totally know what you mean man, your comment was just like so totally RANDOM!!!!!!!"
What is the relevance of the fact that 30,000 people live in the area? The data relates to the percentage of homes! Ah well ............................
"Many of the areas in the report are affluent areas." Like Wythenshawe?
[quote name=gladys rowbotham, Manchester]"Many of the areas in the report are affluent areas." Like Wythenshawe?[/quote]
Well they've probably got most of the stuff nicked from Chorlton for starters.
As a child of an immigrant, seemingly "deprived" member of the great ("cosmopolitan") albeit unwashed community, I have been burgled but I have not committed burglary, which of the Con-Lib councillor's represents me?
facetiously; could it be that fraudulent insurance claims have been made, - I mean, I hear fraud is a crime of the upper/middle classes ...and far more lucrative.
The councillor's comments don't help
Just saying...in times of austerity !
Chorlton is a funny place you have lots of middle class trendy graduates enjoying the vibrancy they so love ie living amongst a lot of very poor people and immigrants hence rich pickings for the local criminals.
Oh I can quite believe this. I lived in Chorlton, near what is now Morrisons, 1989-2001. In that time the house was broken into three times, and the car three times. I had never been broken into before, and I haven't since, despite moving to an apparently deprived area of Salford.
This is truly outrageous. Hold on, no sorry -- I thought it said 'buggary' for a minute there...
lol @ Mr Manchester
Of course thats not to say it's not.....