North Lanarkshire has been revealed as Scotland's fifth worst council area for housebreaking in new figures published by the Scottish Government.
Home invaders in the region have struck a staggering 4021 times over the past five years. This is an average rate of 24 housebreakings a year for every 10,000 residents.
Edinburgh had the highest per capita rate of housebreakings at 40 per 10,000 followed by Dundee which had at 32 per 10,000 and Glasgow and Midlothian, both 30 per 10,000.
At the other end of the scale, the Western Isles and the Orkney Islands have the lowest rate of housebreakings.
Neighbouring South Lanarkshire featured 15th in the crime table with 3003 house raids since 2018 - averaging at 19 per year for every 10,000 residents.
Overall in Scotland, housebreaking has fallen by 40 per cent between the year ending June 2018 and the year ending June 2022 (from 14,521 to 8,705 crimes).
The dramatic reduction has been driven by Covid-19 lockdowns and the dramatic increase in people working from home over the past couple of years.
However, the country still has a serious problem with thieves breaking into homes and businesses in order to steal. Even at the current rate, there are 24 housebreakings every day in Scotland.
In August 2021, thieves stole gold jewellery and watches worth a total of £200,000 in a 10-day spate of housebreakings in Beith, Bathgate, Stranraer, Cambuslang, Paisley, Stepps, East Kilbride and Glasgow.
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