Birmingham has ousted Manchester as the nation's worst city, outside London, for smash-and-grab car crime.

The top five cities for criminal damage to vehicle side glass are Birmingham, Manchester, Newcastle/Gateshead, Glasgow and Cardiff.

London, which accounts for 22% of all Autoglass's side glass replacement, is the one region not covered by the statistic.

The figures include reported and unreported attacks.

The windscreen repair and replacement company claims that only a quarter of its customers report smash and grab incidents to the police.

Autoglass managing director Ian Carlisle said: "The vast majority of glass breakages are caused not by accidents but by criminal damage - whether it is vandalism or theft."


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