Shock at burglary figures - Break-in levels in deprived and affluent wards remarkably similar

Published: 19 February 2010
by JAMIE WELHAM

BY EVERY yardstick Bayswater and Church Street are worlds apart. 

Whether comparing house prices, counting celebrity residents or hunting down a bespoke cup-cake, the differences are plain to see. 

So it might come as a surprise that the two neighbourhoods are competing for the unenviable record of the most burgled in Westminster.

Figures obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by the West End Extra reveal that houses along Porchester Terrace and Queensborough Terrace – among Bayswater’s smartest streets – were burgled 38 times last year. The rate of one break-in every 10 days makes it the biggest burglary blackspot in Westminster – top of 120 subwards in the borough .

Just behind it with 37 burglaries are the more deprived streets nestled between Edgware Road and Marylebone Road: Bell Street, Lisson Street and Penfold Street.

Bayswater appears again twice in the top ten most burgled areas – with houses along Porchester Gardens, Kensington Gardens Square and Craven Terrace, all targeted more than 25 times in 2009. The Church Street area also figures twice more: Frampton Street and St Mary’s Gardens the focal points.

Both areas have large transient populations, who are perhaps not so security conscious as more settled residents, and a disproportionate tranche of bed and breakfast type accommodation in the vicinity, both of which have been offered up as explanations for the figures.

John Zamit, chairman of the South East Bayswater Residents Association (SEBRA) said he was surprised by the figures.

He said: “I haven’t had any experience of being burgled myself but to have three lots of streets in the top 10 means something. 

“It’s a shame the police can’t pinpoint the exact streets because it would be good to have some wider context. I imagine it might have something to do with all the bed and breakfasts, and the transient population. Perhaps they don’t take the precautions with their property that more permanent households might do.”

Police say the south Bayswater area around Lancaster Gate attracts a lot of opportunist crime, calling it a “problem area”. Inspector Mark Cruickshank said: “There is a very transient community in the area, a lot of people coming and going. That attracts opportunist crimes. There are a lot of halfway houses, multi-occupancy dwellings that perhaps don’t have the right locks on and are easier to break in.

“It is a priority for us in the area but overall in Westminster burglaries are 15 per cent down. We visit all burglary victims as a matter of course. The problem is without an eye witness it comes down to forensics and these people are not stupid. They know how to work.”