Most of us bring our fears from our home country and guard against our homes being robbed here in Portugal. Hardly surprising when article such as this appear on Yahoo.finance.uk:

The most burgled places in Britain
A small village in Yorkshire is rivalling London for the dubious honour of being the most burgled place to live in.

Britain’s most burgled postcodes have been revealed – with Yorkshire and London vying to become the highest-risk place to live. Fully half of the top 20 were in Yorkshire, with London the next most burgled place, with Birmingham, Lincolnshire and Hertfordshire rounding off the list.

Homeowners [in high-risk areas] need to be extra vigilant when it comes to security – installing timers on your lights and ensuring items of value are kept away from your windows are easy steps to take to reduce risk. But you never know when an opportunistic thief may strike, so it’s crucial to ensure your home contents insurance is fully up to date, and is at a high enough level to cover all your belongings sufficiently

said Julie Fisher, head of home insurance at Moneysupermarket – who conducted the research.

Moneysupermarket looked at 3 million applications for home insurance across the UK in the last 12 months, then cross-referenced where people had made claims for burglary with where they lived to work out the areas most at risk.

Stoke Newington topped the list, with 33.6 burglary claims per 1,000 applications, followed by the picturesque village of Apperley Bridge near Bradford at 31.7 claims per 1,000 applications. Fisher explains:

Being in a higher risk area doesn’t necessarily mean where you live is bad or rife with crime – many thieves will target more affluent areas purely for the rewards on offer

The 20 most burgled post codes:
1. N16. Stoke Newington London.
2. BD10. Apperley Bridge Bradford
3. B71. West Bromwich West Midlands
4.  N22. Wood Green London
5. LS13. Bramley, Rodley, Swinnow Leeds
6. LS15. Austhorpe, Barwick-in-Elmet, Colton, Cross Gates, Halton, Halton Moor, Scholes, Whitkirk Leeds
7. BD18. Saltaire, Shipley, Windhill, Wrose Bradford
8. LS7. Chapel Allerton, Chapeltown, Little London, Meanwood, Potternewton, Sheepscar Leeds
9. DN2. Intake, Wheatley, Wheatley Hills Doncaster
10. SW16. Streatham London
11. LS8. Fearnville, Gipton, Gledhow, Harehills, Moortown, Oakwood, Roundhay Leeds
12. UB7. West Drayton, Harmondsworth, Sipson, Yiewsley, Longford Greater London
13. IG8. Woodford Green London
14. EN5. Barnet Hertfordshire
15. B75. Sutton Trinity, Falcon Lodge, Rectory Birmingham
16. DN35. Cleethorpes North East Lincolnshire
17. S13. Handsworth, Richmond, Woodhouse Sheffield
18. BD2. Eccleshill, Fagley, Wrose Bradford
19. LS12. Armley, Farnley, New Farnley, Wortley Leeds
20. NW7. Mill Hill London 25

Now for some good news
Lisbon has been voted the safest city in Europe !

People in Central Portugal often leave their keys in their front doors all day because its a very safe, friendly part of the world to live in. We have heard of numerous occasions were wallets or money has been dropped in the street only to be returned untouched. A mixture of honest and family values that can’t be beat.