Some 88.5 per cent of car thefts in London that are reported to the Met Police are unsolved, according to data from the House of Commons library commissioned by the Liberal Democrats.
The Lib Dems have called for action to be taken to tackle the issue, as the Met states that car crime had a "significant impact on victims and communities".
When compared to the rest of the country, London’s police force is the worst-performing across the UK when it comes to car crime.
That’s despite the fact that the Met Police has reduced car crime by almost 15 per cent in the last eight months.
READ MORE: Car theft gang jailed after stealing over 100 vehicles worth more than £1.7 million
For comparison, 35 out of 44 police forces in England and Wales had a rate of 60 per cent in unsolved car thefts this year, with an average of 76.3 per cent of all investigations ended without an identified suspect.
According to a report from the Guardian last year, London’s West End in Westminster had the highest number of car thefts for any ward in the country at 1,171 incidents – 98 percent of which didn’t result in a prosecution.
Lib Dem home affairs spokesman Max Wilkinson MP has led the calls for action to be taken on the issue, stating that the previous Conservative government oversaw "years of self-defeating cuts to our police forces" while the current Labour government "must not turn a blind eye to this epidemic".
The Lib Dems have called for the formation of a specialist crack team, based at the National Crime Agency.
This organisation could pool data from automatic number plate recognition cameras, insurance records, and intelligence from police forces and border control to target organised car crime networks more effectively.
READ MORE: Car theft is terrible for Britain — and we're determined to do something about it
A Home Office spokesman stated that "not enough has been done to prevent these crimes or to bring those responsible to justice".
He went on to highlight that the government was "introducing new laws to ban electronic devices used to steal vehicles, to training police officers on the methods used to steal vehicles and working with industry to address vulnerabilities in vehicles".
Frost to grip London with temperatures plunging to -4C after snow falls on capital
Stage might: the most exciting theatre shows hitting London in 2026
In Pictures: From fire festival to foam fight, the lighter side of life in 2025
Killer gets compensation for human rights breaches as taxpayers foot legal bill
