More than 90 car thefts a day go unsolved in London, Home Office data reveals

More than 90 car thefts a day went unsolved in London last year, data revealed on Monday.

Since the last election in December 2019, a staggering 106,742 motor vehicles have been stolen in the capital without a culprit being caught, according to statistics released by the Home Office.

Some 85 per cent of car theft cases reported to the Metropolitan Police between 2020 and 2023 were closed without a suspect ever being identified.

Last year just 480 car thefts were solved by the force - just over one per cent of all cases.

The number of cases soared up almost a third from 25,264 in 2020 to 33,237 last year, with the Metropolitan Police recording the worst outcomes of any police force in England and Wales.

Liberal Democrat leader and Kingston MP Ed Davey branded the figures “shocking” and said the government had failed to "get a grip on the car theft epidemic”.

The party is calling for Police and Crime Commissioners to be abolished across the country and the savings invested into frontline policing instead. They claim the move would generate around £170million over the course of the next Parliament.

Lib Dem parliamentary candidate for Carshalton and Wallington, Bobby Dean said: “Across London, people want to know that if their car is stolen then the police will catch the culprit. Yet instead, the Conservatives have effectively decriminalised car theft by gutting frontline police resources.

“Ministers have totally failed to get a grip on crime and are letting criminals get away with it.

“The Liberal Democrats would abolish Police and Crime Commissioners and invest the savings in frontline policing instead, giving officers the resources they need to bring criminals to justice and keep our communities safe.”