Rich pickings for thievesas Britons travel abroad

Thieves have taken an estimated £1.7bn of possessions from Britons holidaying abroad in the last five years, a study reveals.

Some 11 per cent of British adults have been the victim of theft while on breaks overseas in this five-year period, a survey by Sainsbury’s Travel Insurance found.

Yet only 51 per cent of those who had something stolen reported the incident to local police, the poll of 2,000 British adults showed.

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The average value of the stolen items was 326 per person, with five per cent of victims being robbed of valuables worth more than 1,000.

Over the last five years, men (13 per cent) have been more likely than women (nine per cent) to be theft victims. The most common form of theft has been pickpocketing (21 per cent), followed by theft from a car (17 per cent) and bag snatching (16 per cent).

As many as 35 per cent of victims had cash stolen, while 15 per cent lost their camera to thieves and 14 per cent had their mobile phone taken.

Sainsbury’s Travel Insurance manager Scott Gorman said: “When holidaying, people take their most valuable possessions with them, such as their camera, passport, going-out jewellery, mobile phone, iPod, and of course their spending money.

“It’s easy to be engrossed in your surroundings when in a different country and when you’re feeling relaxed you can be easily distracted, which is when you are at your most vulnerable.”

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