New figures released today by the Conservatives show that South Worcestershire has become the burglary hotspot of the West Mercia Police area.
The number of burglaries in South Worcestershire in the year ending April 30th 2009 was 969, up 21% from 800 in the previous year. This makes South Worcestershire the Crime and Disorder Partnership Area with the highest number of burglaries in the whole West Mercia Police territory. The rate of increase in the year is also much higher than the West Mercia average increase of 6% and the England and Wales average of 1%.
Harriett Baldwin, Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for West Worcestershire said, "We are lucky to live in a low crime area generally, but I am concerned to learn about the increase in the new burglary figures in particular. I am meeting with Inspector Clive Griffiths in Malvern tomorrow morning (Thursday) and this will be one of the topics I will be raising with him."
Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Grayling, said:
"These figures show that in the worst areas of the country, there's been a burglary in almost every street in the past few months. This increase in burglaries is a big problem, and it's not just down to the recession. The jump in drug taking announced last week is also a big factor - since a large proportion of burglaries result from people trying to get money to feed a drug addiction. We desperately need real action to get police away from filling in forms at their desk in police stations and out onto the beat tackling the problem."