UK burglary hotspots revealed: Check postcode as cops fail to catch thieves where Miss Marple lived
The burglary hotspots of England and Wales have been revealed in a new interactive map which highlights exactly where police are failing to catch any offenders – but it’s bad news for Agatha Christie fans.
Official data shows that only a tiny fraction of break-ins result in the culprit being brought to justice, with households facing a postcode lottery in detection rates. In two residential neighbourhoods – including the sleepy rural village which was home to TV detective Miss Marple – there were nearly 100 burglaries recorded during 2024 without a single suspect being charged or cautioned.
In total, there were 234,000 burglaries reported in England and Wales last year – and of these only five per cent, or around 12,000, resulted in a charge or caution. These figures cover all break-ins, including sheds, outhouses, offices and commercial buildings, as well as residential burglaries.
You can see the number of burglaries recorded in your neighbourhood during 2024 by simply searching with your postcode on our interactive map. Analysis of crime statistics compiled by police forces shows that burglary rates are highest in parts of central London and many city centre districts.
But the map of break-ins also shows how residential neighbourhoods are blighted by burglars, and how the thieves are mostly getting away with their crimes.
In the wealthy, rural district of Nether Wallop, Kings Somborne & Dunbridge, in Test Valley, Hampshire, police recorded 98 burglaries last year and not one of those cases resulted in a charge or caution. Ironically, the neighbourhood is home to one of TV’s most famous detectives as the BBC filmed the Agatha Christie series Miss Marple around Nether Wallop with the amateur sleuth living in one of the picturesque thatched cottages.
There is only one other neighbourhood where there were more burglaries last year without a single charge or caution. That’s just over 200 miles away on the Buttershaw estate in Bradford, West Yorkshire, – which was also known to TV audiences as the setting for the gritty 1980s TV drama Rita, Sue and Bob Too. Last year West Yorkshire Police also recorded 99 burglaries in the Buttershaw neighbourhood without anyone being charged or cautioned.
These two districts had the highest number of burglaries of any area in England & Wales where nobody was charged or cautioned during the whole of 2024. Across England and Wales there were 137 neighbourhoods with at least 50 burglaries during 2024 where not a single case had resulted in a charge or caution. The figures may include some crimes which were later reclassified or cancelled.
Figures are available for every one of more than 7,000 neighbourhoods in England and Wales apart from areas covered by Greater Manchester Police, as the force has not supplied crime data for last year. Crime figures are available for neighbourhoods of between 7,000-10,000 residents, which are designated as Middle Super Output Areas (MSOAs) by the government. The statistics do not include crimes committed at train stations as they are recorded by British Transport Police.
Detective Chief Inspector Dal Andrews, of Hampshire Police, acknowledged that “improvements are needed in our charge and summons rate for all burglaries, and work is ongoing to address this,” but said crime stats “do not tell the whole story” as the force’s “operational response is tailored to the type of report received.”
He added that the force had a 98.8% attendance rate for residential burglaries and that crimes of this nature had fallen by 4% in the last year while the detection rate had improved – the most recent figures show Hampshire Police solved 9.2% of residential burglaries.
West Yorkshire Police said it is continuing “to make a significant investment in projects to reduce burglary”. It says its most recent figures for the three months from December 2024 to February 2025 show a 7% reduction in residential burglaries and a 10% decrease in business-related burglaries on the same period the previous year.
Officers attended 97% of residential burglaries in 2024. A spokesperson said: “We recognise the huge impact that being burgled can have on people, whether that is in their homes or their workplace. Some burglaries are finalised as unsolved because of a lack of evidence or because a suspect cannot be identified.
“Our detection rates are relatively in line with other police forces in England and Wales, but we continually work to improve the quality of burglary investigations by listening to feedback from victims, looking at new and improved ways of working and training, and upskilling our officers and staff.”
Here are five neighbourhoods in each police force area where not a single person was charged or cautioned for burglary during the whole of 2024:
Avon and Somerset Constabulary
Cambridgeshire Constabulary
Cheshire Constabulary
Cleveland Police
Cumbria Constabulary
Derbyshire Constabulary
Devon and Cornwall Police
Durham Constabulary
Dyfed-Powys Police
Essex Police
Gloucestershire Constabulary
Gwent Police
Hampshire Constabulary
Humberside Police
Kent Police
Lancashire Constabulary
Leicestershire Constabulary
Merseyside Police
Metropolitan Police Service
North Wales Police
North Yorkshire Police
Northumbria Police
Nottinghamshire Police
South Wales Police
South Yorkshire Police
Staffordshire Police
Surrey Police
Sussex Police
Warwickshire Police
West Midlands Police
West Yorkshire Police
Get email updates with the day’s biggest stories