Stoke Newington is UK burglary capital

If you’re worried about thieves, steer clear of Stoke Newington in North London. It has today been revealed as Britain’s burglary hotspot.

It is closely followed by Apperley Bridge in Bradford and West Bromwich in the West Midlands.

In all three areas, just over three homes in every 100 has been hit by thieves in the last 12 months, according to research by comparison site moneysupermarket.com.

Analysis of three million insurance quotes in a year revealed the postcode districts most likely to have made a claim for burglary or theft from their home or garden.

Stoke Newington – or Stokey, as residents of the N16 North London district like to call it – proved to be the most troubled district with 33.6 claims for every 1,000 homes.

The area is relatively upmarket and slightly genteel – it has its own organic farmers market, for instance.

But that may be what attracts sneak thieves to visit, warned Julie Fisher, head of home insurance at Moneysupermarket.

"Being in a higher risk area doesn't necessarily mean where you live is bad or rife with crime - many thieves will target more affluent areas purely for the rewards on offer."

Other London areas in the top 20 burglary hotspots are Wood Green, Streatham, Woodford Green and Mill Hill.

Apperley Bridge at postcode BD10 is similar, being known as one of the posher areas of Bradford. But it’s also close to Leeds.

With two big cities near by, the district experienced 31.7 burglaries for every 1,000 homes in 12 months.

In fact, of the 20 worst at-risk postcodes to live in, eight were in either Leeds or Bradford.

West Bromwich – five miles north of Birmingham at postcode B71 - had the same amount of claims for theft as Apperley Bridge.

But the district can make few claims to be affluent despite having a £52m arts community centre built in 2004, which proved to be a bit of a white elephant.

"It doesn’t matter where you live, opportunistic thieves will strike anywhere," warned Julie Fisher.

However the research did reveal seventeen areas - including Bodelwyddan in Wales, Elgin in Scotland, Peterlee in County Durham and Helston in Cornwall - which effectively recorded no claims in the 12 month period.

Other safe zones highlighted included Barrow-in-Furness, Melton Mowbray, North Hereford, Eastbourne, Dalkeith, St Leonards on Sea, Newton-le-Willows and Ryde on the Isle of Wight.