LATEST analysis of data shows an increase in vehicle crime across Cumbria.

Private number plates provider Click4Reg.co.uk carried out an investigation into the total number of vehicle crimes that were recorded by 42 police forces across England and Wales in 2018 and the results of these findings showed that Cumbria Police recorded a three per cent rise in vehicle crime across the county since 2017.

According to the latest data derived from ‘data.police.uk’ Cumbria Police reported 1,171 cases of vehicle crime, which is the equivalent of three incidents each day in 2018.

In other parts of the UK Click4Reg found that the Metropolitan Police had the highest number of vehicle crimes in 2018 with 113,014 incidents, which is a nine per cent rise since 2017.

West Midlands Police followed, with 37,202 cases of vehicle crimes recorded, a three per cent increase from the preceding year and Greater Manchester Police was third with 31,845 vehicle crimes reported.

Vehicle crime per the police is defined as: “theft from or of a vehicle or interference with a vehicle”.

Elie Fakhoury, the Managing Director of Click4Reg.co.uk said: “With the overall number of vehicle offences increasing from the prior year, it’s a crime which is really impacting drivers.

"It’s unfortunate, as many car owners spend a ton of time and money on maintaining all aspects of their vehicle to ensure it runs effortlessly and is road-worthy.

"Whilst vehicle crime may seem difficult to combat, it is in fact one of the more preventable crimes.

"Individuals can take a range of cost-effective measures to protect their vehicle from the threat of lurking criminals.

"For instance, drivers should aim to make actions such as locking doors and removing all valuable items when not in their vehicle a habit."

In an attempt to reduce vehicle crime, residents have been advised to remove every single valuable possession out of plain sight when not in the vehicle, to make every effort to check and close all windows as well as fully locking the vehicle and to aim to park cars in an area which has a lot of passing footfall.

The Mail contacted Cumbria Police but were unable to provide a response before the deadline of this article.