East Europe migrants bring surge in pickpocketing crime

Police believe highly organised gangs of Romanian and Bulgarian gipsies - some as young as eight - are responsible for a twothirds rise in thefts since April.

Between four and six eastern European pickpockets were arrested each day in the area around Oxford Street, police say.

One officer said: "The Roma and Romanians are not the only groups pickpocketing and stealing property in the West End but they are massively the most prevalent."

The gangs usually target prime shopping areas such as Knightsbridge, Mayfair and St John's Wood.

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Since January, when Romania and Bulgaria joined the European Union, Roma children arrested for pickpocketing have been found with Tube maps on which retails areas such as Oxford Street and Piccadilly have been circled for targeting.

Police believe teams of young Roma are also being sent all over the country on "away day pickpocketing sprees".

When arrested, children are checked on the police computer and many are found to have criminal records from other towns and cities.

Police believe many have never actually lived in Romania or Bulgaria and arrived here via Italy and Spain, where they appear to have spent several years after being sent by their parents to live with relatives.

One officer said: "We find many of them speak very good Italian and Spanish, indicating they have lived there for some time."

Another said: "Basically, they have been sent from Romania or Bulgaria to thieve their way around Europe and Britain is the latest stop."

At one stage this year, up to six eastern European children a day were being detained in Oxford Street and taken into care at a meeting room in Marylebone Police station that became known as "the creche" as a result.

A Westminster council investigation found that many eastern Europeans were giving the same home address after being arrested.

The council also found that young people would routinely claim not to know their home address or their parents' contact details.

The report concluded that Romanian and Bulgarian criminality was organised and raised suspicions that the children involved are being trafficked for use by crime networks.

Westminster councillor Audrey Lewis said: "Although the overwhelming majority of immigrants from the EU accession countries are hard working and make a positive contribution, for those requiring assistance or slipping into the hands of criminal networks the Government is not offering enough support.

"The influx of migrants has had a direct impact on pickpocketing rates in Westminster and placed pressures on a host of services the council provides."

Superintendent Jon Morgan, police divisional commander for Marylebone, said the rise had to be put in the context of up to a million people a day using Oxford Street and insisted that while Romanians and Bulgarians were behind "a larger proportion" of pickpocketing and "dipping" in the area, criminals of other nationalities routinely targeted it too.

Urging greater awareness of crime prevention, he said: "In 2003, when these countries were not part of the European Union, we were able to remove 400 people who were failed asylum seekers and who had been caught doing this.

"The increase now is because we do not have the ability to deport."