Rates of home burglary and antisocial behaviour have declined since last year, a committee heard.

A report of performance indicators for the second quarter of this year (July to September), presented to Havering’s crime and disorder committee on December 9, revealed there had been 170 residential burglaries.

This was a decline on the 189 for the same period last year and significantly down on the 240 recorded for the months in 2019, leading Cllr John Crowder to ask whether it was a result of working from home.

Head of enforcement community safety Chris McAvoy said while there was “definitely evidence” to suggest this, the number of burglars detained, arrested and charged suggested it was not a "coincidence that we are successful in that area".

There was a slight rise – from 48 and 67 – in burglaries of businesses, although this remains significantly lower than the 144 recorded over the same time frame in 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic.

Antisocial behaviour complaints have declined 32 per cent on 2020, which the report attributes to a decrease in complaints about people breaking the government’s coronavirus rules.