Police only turn up to investigate less than one in four of car thefts

Police are turning up to investigate less than one in four car thefts amid a surge in the crime.

Shocking figures reveal that forces covering England and Wales attended just 10,963 of 47,228 (23 per cent) car thefts last year.

This was down from 24.72 per cent the year before.

But some forces headed to the scene of the crime for barely one in ten car thefts, including Avon and Somerset, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire.

Essex Police, which sparked a furious backlash last week for sending five officers to a family-owned pub to seize a collection of golliwog dolls, attended just 686 of 4,920 car thefts (14 per cent) in 2022.

Police are turning up to investigate less than one in four car thefts amid a surge in the crime (stock image)

Shocking figures reveal that forces covering England and Wales attended just 10,963 of 47,228 (23 per cent) car thefts last year

MPs last night branded the figures a ‘national scandal’ and said victims deserved better.

They also accused forces of spending too much time on promoting ‘woke’ causes and policing comments on the internet rather than fighting street-level crime.

Ministers this week announced plans for a major shake-up which would see police stop recording rows between neighbours and Twitter spats as offences.

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Chris Philp, the crime and policing minister, said the move would stop police wasting time investigating ‘trivial’ complaints and save officers 443,000 hours a year to focus on fighting more serious crime.

The car theft figures, obtained by the Liberal Democrats via Freedom of Information requests, show Avon and Somerset had the worst record of any force. It attended just 473 of 4,467 car thefts (11 per cent).

This was followed by Bedfordshire, where officers attended 198 of 1,509 car thefts (13 per cent), and Cambridgeshire, which turned up to 152 of 1,279 crime scenes (12 per cent).

Other poor performing forces were Surrey and West Midlands, which both attended less than a fifth of car thefts (17 per cent). The former attended 344 of 1,989 while the latter turned up to 2,782 of 15,899.

Among the best performing forces were Cumbria, which visited the scene of 263 of 344 car thefts (76 per cent), and Durham, where 609 of 967 (63 per cent) were attended.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said: ‘This is a national scandal’

Of the 43 police forces in England and Wales, 22 responded to the requests for information. But it is thought that the figures are broadly reflective of the country-wide picture and come after the Mail revealed how just 2 per cent of car thefts result in a suspect being charged.

The data shows the scale of the rise in car theft, which jumped by 32 per cent to 47,228 cases last year – up from 35,734 –for the 22 forces.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said: ‘This is a national scandal. People pay their fair share in taxes to fund the police and, at the very least, expect an officer to arrive on the scene of a crime. Ministers should apologise for these shocking figures and commit to a return to proper community policing.’

Tory MP Peter Bone said some police forces were spending too much time on ‘woke concerns and investigations’, adding: ‘Forces have a limited amount they can do and they need to concentrate on the things people are concerned about.’

A Home Office spokesman said: ‘Car theft is a truly distressing crime and we are closely working with the automotive industry and police to ensure our response is as strong as it can be. Recent figures from the Crime Survey for England and Wales show vehicle crime is down 18 per cent since December 2019. We expect police to take vehicle crime seriously and investigate thoroughly.’