Last updated at 14:48, Sunday, 27 January 2013

BARROW residents are the third least likely in the UK to be targeted by thieves, new figures have shown.

LOW RISK: Barrow’s LA14 postcode is in the top three nationally of unlikely targets for thieves. Picture posed by models PA Photo/JupiterImages

The nation’s burglary hotspots have been revealed in a postcode study released by MoneySupermarket.com

The price comparison website has analysed 3.49m applications for home insurance quotes made between December 2011 and the end of November 2012.

Results show the top-three postcodes where people were least likely to have made a claim were SA9 in Swansea, SA62 in Pembrokeshire and LA14 in Barrow.

People living in LS13 in Leeds were the most likely to have filed insurance claims for burglary in a two-year period.

The postcode in second place was BD12 in Bradford, followed by North Finchley (N12) in London, Eccles in Manchester (M30) and Noak Hill in Romford, Essex (RM3).

Temporary Inspector Ian McClymont, of Barrow police, said the figures reinforced the statistics gathered by the force.

“It confirms what we’ve been trying to say for some time,” he said.

“Burglaries of houses and flats continue to fall in this area and it certainly reflects up-to-date figures from April last year.

“There have been 85 within the Barrow neighbourhood policing team area compared to 98 for the same period the previous year - so 13 fewer crimes

“If you compare this to other parts of the country, the chances of being broken into in Barrow are fairly slim.

“As far as we’re concerned, the fewer burglaries we have, the fewer victims we have to deal with, because there’s nothing more traumatic than finding your house has been broken into.”

Hannah Jones, of MoneySupermarket, said: "While there are clearly some areas of the country with a higher proportion of insurance claims for burglary than others, this doesn't actually mean the area is 'rife' with crime.

"Thieves often specifically target areas with wealthy residents, or quieter areas where there's not a lot of passing foot traffic, where the rewards are potentially greater and the risk of being caught in the act may be lower.”

First published at 13:21, Sunday, 27 January 2013
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk