Vehicle offences in Havering experienced a dramatic hike in the first four months of this year, according to official data.
Between January and April 2022, the Met Police crime dashboard recorded 980 vehicle offences in the borough.
This represents a 22.7 per cent increase on the 757 recorded for September to December last year, and 28.4pc on the 701 the four months prior, May to August.
It is also significantly up on the same time period (January to April) in 2021, when 849 offences are recorded.
Vehicle offences is a category which includes the theft of a motor vehicle, theft from a motor vehicle, interfering with a motor vehicle and aggravated vehicle taking.
A spokesperson for the Met Police confirmed while there has been an overall reduction in vehicle offences in the last two years, there has been a recent rise.
They added the officer heading vehicle crime in Havering, Insp Zed Asghar, “continues to use the resources available to him to tackle the issue”.
This includes initiatives such as Operation Gambler, in which Havering and Essex police forces work together to target car thieves, burglars and other crime and antisocial behaviour.
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