ALMOST £3 million worth of jewellery has been stolen in Bradford over the past three years, new figures have revealed.

The data showed that Bradford is the city that has seen the third most cases of jewellery theft since 2018, trailing only behind Nottingham – the worst affected city – and Leeds in second (London excluded from the figures).

A Freedom of Information request to West Yorkshire Police by online retailer Jewellerybox revealed there have been 1,888 jewellery thefts since 2018, but the number of incidents has been falling every year.

In 2018 there were 804 cases in the district, while in 2019 that number fell to 652, and in 2020 was down to 432.

The total value of the jewellery stolen in Bradford was £2,961,045, the fourth highest amount behind Leeds in third (£4.98m), Nottingham in second (£6.98m) and London at the top of the list, where a whopping £373.6 million worth of jewellery was stolen from 2018 to 2020.

The number of jewellery thefts in 2020 fell everywhere, with the Covid-19 lockdown playing a big role in the fall with people confined to their homes for the majority of the time.

Elsewhere in West Yorkshire, Huddersfield came in sixth place on the list with 1,146 thefts since 2018, worth £1,995,493.

Jewellerybox said: “Unfortunately, jewellery is one of the most commonly targeted items by thieves.

“And it’s not just high-profile heists like the Hatton Garden burglary either, with thousands of everyday people having pieces stolen each year too.

“It’s easy to see why jewellery is so popular with thieves, usually yielding a high resale value, especially as fewer of us carry actual cash these days.”

The National Association of Certified Home Inspectors in the USA recommends the ten best places to hide your jewellery from thieves in the home.

They include in hollowed out books on your bookcase, false containers in the kitchen, in the false bottom of a bin, inside an indoor plant pot, a false plug outlet, in a heavy floor safe or in boxes in the garage with mundane labels such as “Christmas decorations” or “school projects”.

Anti-burglar house fittings such as the latest locks and CCTV cameras will also help keep would-be thieves away, and if you have expensive jewellery it is also recommended that items are insured.