Over 800 Burglaries In Claremont Since 2015
Lancashire Constabulary closed over 100 burglary cases in Claremont in 2018 with 'no line of enquiry'.
The Claremont area of Blackpool has seen over 800 burglaries since 2015.
2017 saw 220 burglaries in the deprived neighbourhood, with at least one burglary every two days. As of November, there were 70 burglaries in Claremont in 2019.
In the last few months of 2014, there were 30 burglaries, followed by 174 in 2015. After a slight drop to 164 in 2016, it spiked with 220 burglaries in 2017, followed by 181 in 2018.
In 2018, over 100 cases were closed by the police with no line of enquiry. In 2017, 148 cases were closed in the same manner.
While the number of burglaries seems to be falling, the percentage of burglaries which resulted in a charge or summons for the offender dropped from 10% to 7%.
In November 2019, Lancashire Live named Claremont as the “most dangerous places to live in Blackpool according to the latest crime stats.”
The data was sourced by the media literacy charity The Student View.
Why did a student choose to cover this story?
Tom, 14, from Blackpool, said: “I chose this topic as I live nearby this area and have to listen to others talk about these events and the house alarms whenever they are set off during a break-in. I also had a fear for a time that the same would happen to us and someone would get hurt. I feel as if this is an issue neglected by local news media and believe people need to know more.”
How did the answers make our journalist feel?
“The answers made me feel right about reporting this cause as I was shocked by the sheer amount of unsolved and discontinued cases in comparison to solved cases.”