Nearly 600 burglaries a day go unsolved – over three quarters of reported cases, damning figures reveal

AN AVERAGE of 584 burglaries a day go unsolved, damning figures reveal.

The number of break-ins across England and Wales where a suspect was not even identified totalled 213,279 in the last financial year.

That is more than three quarters of all cases reported to cops.

The South Yorkshire force had the worst record, with 84.4 per cent of recorded burglaries going unsolved.

Hampshire Police saw 83.1 per cent of reported cases closed without a suspect, followed by the Metropolitan Police with 81.6 per cent.

Home Office crime statistics were analysed by the Liberal Democrats — who said just 12 per cent of officers are assigned to frontline neighbourhood policing teams.

They called for a return to “proper community policing, where officers are visible in their neighbourhoods, with the time and resources to focus on tackling local crimes”.

The party’s Home Affairs spokesman Alistair Carmichael said: “Knowing that so many burglars are getting off scot-free will bring little comfort to our communities.

“Make no mistake, these are the consequences of the Conservatives constantly side-lining frontline policing. Enough is enough. The Home Secretary must finally restore proper community policing.”

But the Home Office insisted: “Since 2010 communities are safer, with neighbourhood crimes including burglary, robbery and theft down 51 per cent.”

“It said Home Secretary Suella Braverman had demanded every force send an officer to investigate every home burglary.”

And it added: “We have delivered more police officers in England and Wales than ever before and invested record funding into policing.

“This includes more visible patrols in our neighbourhoods and better security such as CCTV and alarm systems.”