BUCKHURST Hill's reputation as a car crime hotspot shows little sign of diminishing following the latest figures released on insurance claims there.

The IG9 postcode comes in just outside the top ten as the area with the 11th highest number of car insurance claims nationwide according to moneysupermarket.com.

Beleaguered motorists in the area may draw some comfort from knowing their next door neighbours in Woodford Green fare little better with the IG8 postcode finishing just one place behind in the list of shame.

For Lisa Fry, 19, who had her car broken into twice in Devon Close, Buckhurst Hill, the figures were no revelation.

She said: “It did surprise me at first, but, when you think about it, not really, because there's a lot of people here with nice cars. People think it's safe here but it's an easy target.

“The first time someone broke into my car it was just a group of kids but the second time they were professionals. They took my car apart while I was sleeping.

“There's nothing much you can do unless you peek out of your window all the time.”

Westbury Lane, in Buckhurst Hill, used to be a hot spot for car crime with ten cars vandalised in one night last year, but resident Irene Smith said things had calmed down recently.

She added: “I don't like these figures. I suppose it's all the footballers living around here. I don't know what to put it down to really. It's just something people know is easy to do.”

According to moneysupermarket.com, just over 3 per cent of people in Buckhurst Hill made a crime-related claim on their car last year 0.2 per cent up on the year before.

The Guardian revealed earlier this year that car crime in Buckhurst Hill had risen by 19.3 per cent in June.

Since then, Essex Police have launched Operation Phobia to clamp down on the theft of high value cars.