YOU are more likely to be burgled, or the victim of criminal damage or vehicle crime, in Tandridge than in any other part of Surrey.
According to the latest statistics revealed on the police.uk website, Tandridge has seen more incidents of these three types of crime between March 2012 and March 2013, than any of the other 11 districts in Surrey, per head of population.
There were 815 burglaries in Tandridge by March 31 – averaging more than two a day.
Officers from neighbouring forces have been drafted in to help investigate as a result.
And over the same period there were also 802 incidents of criminal damage and/or arson, and 594 vehicle crimes.
Caterham-based Tandridge neighbourhood Inspector Angie Austin admitted she had resorted to asking for help from other areas.
She said: "I can't deny that there has been a spike in dwelling burglaries, but we have drafted officers in from other areas to make our presence known.
Incident
"Earlier in the summer, we went through a period of eight days when we did not have a single burglary in the area."
Among the high-profile break-ins was a late-night incident in May in Slines Oak Road, Woldingham, in which a young woman in her 20s, Emily Fuller, was dragged out of bed by balaclava-wearing intruders.
She was bound and gagged before her attackers tried in vain to drill open her safe.
Miss Fuller recalled: "I had a knife held to my throat. I thought I was going to die."
Insp Austin said the level of vehicle crimes was partly due to a spate of them in Stafford Road, Caterham.
"We managed to charge someone with four thefts and one vehicle interference with regards to these crimes," she said.
"But there are also a lot of thefts from unlocked cars."
She added that, between July 2012 and July this year, Tandridge had seen a 18.4 per cent reduction in house burglaries to a total of 80 crimes, down from 98.
She also said there had been a similar story for vehicle crime – which was 19.3 per cent down for the same period.
Insp Austin said: "We are well aware of issues in the local area and we will continue to target them."
