Area Committee Five: ‘Pretty much every street’ in Chadwell Heath targeted by burglars

Chadwell ward had the highest levels of the crime in the whole of London earlier this year and has long been a hotspot in Redbridge.

Speaking at a Redbridge Council area committee five meeting yesterday evening, Pc Katie Boreham said there had been more than 100 burglaries in the area from November to March alone - just under one a day.

“Chadwell has suffered quite an increase in burglaries, at one stage it was the number one in the Met,” she added.

“In the last few weeks or has dropped slightly but we are keeping more resources there.”

She told the meeting, at Barley Lane Primary School in Huxley Drive, Chadwell Heath, that all burglaries were happening in daytime working hours between 9am and 6pm.

“Pretty much every street has been hit,” Ms Boreham said.

“People are locking their doors and doing what they should be doing but these people are still getting in.”

Statistics given to councillors showed that levels of violent assaults were also on the up.

Cllr Balvinder Saund (Independent, Seven Kings) asked what police were doing to stop it but Ms Boreham said attacks were very hard to predict and were often domestic.

The committee later approved £4,410 funding for 450 property marking kits to be given out to discourage burglars and track stolen items back to owners.

Cllr Wes Streeting (Lab, Chadwell) argued that the figures in Chadwell contradicted previous police statements that crime in Redbridge was falling.

He added: “The reassurances given are starting to ring hollow.

“It’s clear there is a big problem in this borough with burglary.”

Cllr Streeting asked whether the spike was linked to the introduction of the new local policing model last year.

It changed the structure of Safer Neighbourhood Teams, closed the front counters and Woodford and Wanstead police stations and changed the hours at Barkingside.

More than 90 extra officers were due to come to Redbridge over the next three years.