Travellers have been warned to be wary of Artful Dodgers as the boroughs with the highest number of pickpockets in the capital have been revealed.

Tourists are being warned to be mindful after data from the New British Transport Police revealed the biggest hotspots for thieving hands across London.

Pickpocketing covers the surreptitious theft of items directly from a victim, but without the use of physical force.

Westminster tops the list with 20,871 pickpocketing crimes in the past year.

Camden is second with 5,301. It is here that much of the pickpocketing happens in Charles Dickens' novel Oliver Twist under leadership of Fagin, who lives near Saffron Hill, a street and ward in the south eastern corner of the borough.

Southwark is third with 4,287, then Hackney with 3,160 pickpocketing thefts.

They were followed by Kensington & Chelsea with 2,962, followed by Islington with 2,820 .

There were 2,591 pickpocketing crimes in Lambeth and 1,894 in Haringey.

Underground lines

The data, collated by London criminal defence solicitors Lawtons, also revealed the London underground lines with the most reported pickpocket thefts.

The number of pickpocket thefts on the London Underground has more than doubled since 2021, reaching a record high of 7,899 thefts in 2022.

Between January 2021 and January 2023 the Central line had the most with 1,918, then the Northern line with 1,904 followed by the Piccadilly line with 1,685 instances.

The Metropolitan line had the least with 776 pick pocketing crimes.

According to Transport for London levels of train-related theft are higher than pre-pandemic rates.

Some 50% of robberies are committed on trains, with 23% on platforms and 7% at station entrances and exits.

Fridays are the most common day for offences to occur and thefts are least likely on Thursdays. 

The Metropolitan Police says there are many things people can do to avoid being a victim including keeping purses and bags closed and carrying them in front of you or diagonally across your chest.

People can use a purse that’s difficult to open, a money belt if they’re carrying a significant quantity of cash and keep a list, separate from their wallet and phone, of contact numbers, in case anything is stolen.

The Met also suggest keeping a photocopy of airline tickets, passports, credit cards or any other documents that are difficult to replace if stolen.