Kent Police

Kent is an unusual in that it's a large county with only one city, Canterbury. And compared to other cities in the UK, Canterbury is fairly small. It's also unusual that the city centre isn't the county's biggest hotspot. This becomes especially apparent when compared to neighbouring London, which has a full spectrum of colours in its hotspot.

Kent is made up of fairly large towns and villages surrounded by large swathes of countryside, particularly so towards the east. The biggest hotspots are all in the north of the county, stretching from Dartford to the Isle of Sheppy and taking in the Medway towns of Gillingham, Rochester and Chatham. That said, all of these hotspots are below the national average and not particularly concentrated. Many of the smaller towns in the county see very little car crime.

Other small hotspots include the coastal towns (particularly those that are ports), Ashford and the county town of Maidstone.

ME11 is notable as its fairly rural, yet includes a port with a major new car import centre.

This year Kent Police has issued specific warnings for Dover, Shepway and Ashford. It has wanred motorists in Kent not to leave valuables in your car or van, following a number of thefts in the Folkestone area:

"Twelve offences where thieves have smashed a window to break into people's cars and steal items have been reported. A number of items including handbags, hairdressing equipment, cash, CDs and GPS equipment have been stolen.

Chief Inspector Martin Bradley, Shepway District Commander said: 'It is very unusual to have so many thefts from motor vehicles in the Folkestone area, which is why I would like to highlight it so motorists are aware."

See also: Top 10 Cars Stolen to order / Top 10 Most Stolen Cars / Crime homepage