Burglaries up 28 per cent over Christmas period (From Sutton Guardian)

Burglaries in Sutton, Wallington and Worcester Park up 28 per cent on last year

5:10am Friday 28th December 2012 in News By James Pepper

Sutton has seen a spike in burglaries over the Christmas period.

Police are urging residents to protect their homes after a 28 burglaries took place between 17 and 24 December.

The latest surge has seen residential burglary rise by 28.1 per cent from April to Christmas eve, compared with the same period last year.

Jewellery, watches, TVs, laptops, ipads, games consoles, and cash have been taken.

In one burglary a black BMW convertible was taken after the vehicle's key had been stolen from the property.

Detective Inspector Jim Bennett, of Sutton CID, said many burglaries had been committed by criminals smashing back doors and gaining entry using keys left in locks.

He said: "Call us even if you feel your suspicions may be trivial or of little interest to police. We would much rather you call so we arrive to find that everything is OK, than for us to find a resident distressed and upset because they have become a victim of burglary."

These activities running over the last few months had resulted in a number of significant arrests by police.

Safer Neighbourhoods Teams have been distributing many thousands of crime prevention leaflets to encourage residents to take steps to protect their property.

Lumley Road, Gander Green Lane and Abbotts Road  in Sutton saw two burglaries each between December 17 and December 24.