New data has revealed the biggest car crime hotspots across the country.

It comes following a Freedom of Information from Choose My Car, which has named the UK towns and cities with the most car crimes.

What is a car crime?

The car crimes are defined as one of the following three crimes, they are:

  • Theft from a vehicle
  • Theft or unauthorised taking of a motor vehicle
  • Interfering with a motor vehicle

Instead of just looking at where the most overall car crimes were committed in the UK, Choose My Car also factored in those figures in relation to the number of vehicles on the road, which changes the data completely.

So while Birmingham has 17,758 combined offences, Manchester actually has the highest rate of offences as for every 1,000 registered vehicles, 50.66 were targeted by criminals.

Where are the most dangerous areas for cars?

The UK towns and cities outside of London that have the most car crime (per 1,000 vehicles) are:

  • Manchester, with 9,037 total number of car crimes and overall score of 50.66
  • Nottingham, with 3,314 total number of car crimes and overall score of 29.51
  • Bradford, with 6,487 total number of car crimes and overall score of 27.59
  • Wolverhampton, with 3,440 total number of car crimes and overall score of 27.07
  • Northampton, with 3,464 total number of car crimes and overall score of 25.97

Where are the safest areas for cars?

In comparison to areas with the highest numbers of car crimes, the areas with the lowest number of vehicle crimes are staggeringly low.

These are the areas where your car is safest:

  • Luton, with 395 total number of car crimes and overall score of 4.15
  • Plymouth, with 1,043 total number of car crimes and overall score of 7.77
  • Belfast, with 1,380 total number of car crimes and overall score of 8.93
  • Stoke-on-Trent, with 1,414 total number of car crimes and overall score of 10.54
  • Portsmouth, with 1,786 total number of car crimes and overall score of 14.01

How to keep your car safe from thieves

For those concerned about a car being a target, here is some advice from RAC about how to keep it safe:

  • Don’t just rely on your key fob to lock your car - make sure your car is locked properly before leaving it, as thieves can use a jammer to intercept the signal between the fob and the car, meaning the locking mechanism isn’t activated and the car will remain unlocked
  • Choose your parking spot carefully, like one that it well-lit, open to public view or even covered by CCTV as these will deter thieves from going after your car, since they’ll be more worried about being caught
  • Hide any belongings in the car, like any jackets, bags, sat-navs or money in the car, as this will make it a tempting target
  • Think about adding a car alarm, immobiliser or tracking device, which can help recover your car if it has been stolen
  • Don’t leave your car running, like if you’re trying to warm it up on a cold morning while you’re in the house, as this gives thieves the opportune moment to steal it
  • Been seen to be secure - like using a lock for your steering wheel, pedals or gear stick. Thieves are opportunistic and might pass on a car they think might be too much hassle