THE police region that includes Worcestershire has the tenth lowest rate of car thefts in England and Wales.

West Mercia ranks 33rd out of the 42 policing districts, according to a new study based on five years of data.

Figures were collated by intelligentcarleasing.com after a series of Freedom of Information Requests and released today (Tuesday, October 7).

Devon and Cornwall had the lowest rate of car thefts, while the City of London had the most.

The study discovered some statistics about the levels of car theft nationwide.

Over the past decade car thefts have been steadily declining every year.

However, the year from 2012 to 2013 saw a sharp drop at a much faster rate than the nine years before.

The south of England had 4.89 per cent more car thefts per head in the past five years than the north of the country.

Intelligent Car Leasing issued five tips to motorists to deter thieves from targeting their cars.

These are: never leave your car running unattended when making short stops, be careful not to store keys near your home’s letterbox or windows, don’t leave any valuables in sight when the car is parked, have visual deterrents such as steering wheel locks and car tracker systems and try to park in a garage if you have one, and stay in well-lit areas covered by CCTV in car parks.