Vehicle Theft in Evington Ward

Recent research has highlighted the magnitude of car crime throughout the UK, identifying the regions where motorists encounter the highest risk and least prospect of getting their vehicle back.  Car theft continues to be an ongoing risk to British drivers, with over 342,496 vehicles stolen nationwide from 2022 to 2025.

That is about 90,000 motors per year, with recovery statistics being disappointingly at a lowly 13% during this period, suggesting that at least of 297,000 vehicles stolen (87%), the majority of which simply disappear.

Many end up dismantled for parts within hours to be sold on through organised criminal networks, some, are given new identities and also sold on, some are exported whole to overseas markets where UK vehicles attract a premium price.

The most likely vehicles to be targeted by thieves are:

Ford Fiesta

Land Rover Range Rover Sport

Toyota Hilux

Nissan Navara

Toyota C-HR

Ford Ranger

Ford EcoSport

Nissan Juke

Land Rover Discovery

Toyota RAV4.

Vehicle crimes are a regular occurrence in Leicester, with thousands of incidents a year, with the city’s rate above the national average.

Theft of vehicles and theft from vehicles contribute to a significant share of these incidents, though specific breakdowns (e.g., how many were theft of vs theft from) are not in the high-level figures.

Recovery outcomes locally aren’t published in detail but given national trends and reported low police resolution rates, it’s likely that many stolen vehicles in Leicester are not recovered or take significant time to be found.

Across England & Wales, investigations into vehicle theft often have very low solved/outcome rates (in many areas <2 %, and in some forces <1 %). This broader trend suggests that a large proportion of stolen vehicles are not recovered or result in a prosecution, even if the vehicle itself later turns up.

In Leicester City vehicle crime accounts for 5.7–5.8 % of all crime. There are around 5,800 vehicle crime incidents/year, that is 5.9 incidents per 1000 of the population.

In Evington Ward, according to the most recent available police-sourced data (Nov 2024 – Oct 2025), the vehicle crime rate is approximately 4.97 crimes per 1,000 residents per year which is around 4/10 compared with similar neighbourhoods across England and Wales (higher means relatively more crime). This includes all types of vehicle-related offences in the ward (e.g., theft of and theft from vehicles). That equates to 86 incidents per annum.

For specific areas, at a vehicle crime rate per 1000 of the population, the following is recorded:

Evington Drive (LE5)                    2.43       Low (2/10)

Evington Road (LE2 1QL)             5.37       Moderate (4/10)

Evington Parks Rd (LE2 1PS)        4.8         Moderate (4/10)

Evington Valley Rd (LE5)              4.5         Moderate (4/10)

(These figures are based on annualised crime per 1,000 people for the 12-month period ending late 2025.)

In local policing area crime summaries, vehicle crime consistently appears in the top reported categories, although much less frequent than violent crime, during July 2025, vehicle crime was among the top four offences, behind violence, anti-social behaviour and public order. This aligns with broader trends across Leicester where vehicle crime forms a smaller part of total neighbourhood crime but is still an ongoing issue.

The good news is that the vehicle crime trend is down by 8.6 % year-on-year.

Source:

1-Rodger, J (2026) 10 cars most likely to be stolen in the UK – full list,    https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/

2- https://www.plumplot.co.uk/City-Leicester-crime-stats.html?utm

3- https://crimerate.co.uk/leicestershire/leicester?utm

4 -https://crystalroof.co.uk/report/ward/evington-leicester/crime?utm

5- https://www.police.uk/area/your-area/leicestershire/east-leicester/evington/