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Manchester has been named one of the UK’s top car theft ‘hotspots’
Not exactly ideal.
Emily Sergeant -
6th March 2025 
Manchester has unfortunately been named one of the UK’s top car theft ‘hotspots’, according to a new analysis.
In recent months, Greater Manchester has been earning itself some rather impressive new titles, with wins across areas such as property prices, arts and culture, and so much more… but when you win some, it seems like you also lose some.
That’s because a data analysis of car theft statistics across the UK in 2024 has sadly seen Manchester named in the top 10 ‘hotspots’.
Although motor thefts were found to have decreased by 6% in the previous year, there was still a whopping 61,343 cars reported stolen to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) in 2024, which marked the third-highest annual total in the past decade.
The number of car thefts in 2024 was actually more than twice the number recorded in 2015.
Analysis of the data from This is Money and MailOnline, as shared by the RAC, highlighted that East London was the worst affected area in the UK, but Manchester wasn’t too far behind.
Manchester took the third spot on the top 10 list, with a total of 912 cars reported stolen in 2024 alone, while some of the other northern cities on the ranking include Leeds and Sheffield.
It comes as no surprise, however, that at the top of the list is the capital of London, with a shockingly-high 8,145 cars stolen last year.
Top 10 UK car theft ‘hotspots’ 2024
- London – 8,145
- Birmingham – 3,220
- Manchester – 912
- Leeds – 901
- Sheffield – 899
- Coventry – 862
- Wolverhampton – 616
- Leicester – 533
- Walsall – 521
- Bristol – 506
According to the analysis, there are several ways that criminals are choosing to steal cars nationwide, with one of the most popular being key cloning, where a thief creates a copy of a car’s key fob or key to gain access to the vehicle.
This technique is particularly common with modern cars that use keyless entry and push-to-start systems, which communicate with the car through radio signals.
Read more:
- Digital driving licences will be introduced across the UK later this year
- DVSA warns of scam parking fine text messages that threaten to ‘ban you from driving’
- UK drivers warned that common ‘kindness’ gestures could land them with £1,000 fines
Two other common car theft techniques include relay attacks, and key signal blocking.
Featured Image – rawpixel
