BUNGLING cops solved just over five per cent of burglaries last year, shocking statistics show – nearly HALF as many as in 2015.

The success rate for solving crimes had plummeted across England and Wales, with robbers left to roam the streets prowling for other victims.

Police cracked a measly 14,000 cases out of 268,000 burglaries between April 2020 and April last year.

They abandoned 243,000 of them, mostly due to struggles with evidence including problems with accessing CCTV or being unable to find suspects.

The damning figures, reported by The Times, displayed a massive shortfall in productive police work over the last seven years.

Official stats showed the number of solved burglaries has nearly HALVED since 2015, when officers managed to resolve almost 32,000 break-ins out of 342,043.

The data, which takes into account residential and commercial burglaries, found more than 301,000 were left unsolved in 2015.

More than 8,000 burglary cases have not been assigned an outcome in government statistics.

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Between 2020 and 2021, of the 268,000 burglaries, a mammoth 211,411 investigations were closed without a suspect being identified.

A puny 12,981 cases resulted in a charge or summons.

And over 31,000 other burglary cases were closed because of evidential difficulties, while nearly 10,000 had not been assigned an outcome.

From January to December last year, the Metropolitan Police had a sanction detection rate of 3.8 per cent for residential burglaries.

It means only 1,500 cases out of London's 40,000 were closed with a formal resolution such as a charge, summons or community penalty.

The force was urged to step up after a spate of high-profile burglaries in the capital, as gangs targeted Britain's top footballers across the UK.

Just last month, Manchester City star Joao Cancelo revealed horror facial injuries after being attacked by four thugs who he says "tried to hurt" his family.

Scotland Yard's Flying Squad is now being drafted in to tackle home invasions armed with their extensive knowledge of organised crime and ability to use firearms.

A team from the unit recently caught up with an Italian trio who brazenly stole items worth more than £26million as they struck the homes including that of F1 heiress Tamara Ecclestone and former footballer Frank Lampard and his wife Christine.

Police chiefs accepted that forces need to up their game in terms of tackling burglary, but the crime spree has shown little sign of slowing down.

DAMNING FIGURES

Cops in Durham and Northumbria topped the leaderboard, solving 12 per cent of burglary cases, while Suffolk cracked just over 10 per cent.

A miserable 3.7 per cent were cleared up in Greater Manchester, while cops in Surrey solved just 3 per cent.

As well as this, the latest figures from the Home Office revealed that the overall number of crimes has hit a record low, with just one in 17 leading to a charge.

From 2020 to 2021, only one in 20 violent crimes resulted in a charge being brought.

And appallingly, only one in 77 rapes resulted in a charge as according to The Times, police are struggling to locate suspects.

Susan Hall, chairwoman of City Hall’s police and crime committee, said: "Mistrust in the police is at a record high, the number of burglaries solved is at a record low, the Met are not earning that trust back.

"There are more police officers in London today than at any point in almost 20 years, the resources are clearly available."

Ministers have urged police to send an officer to every burglary scene after trials showed that it cut crime by up to a half and trebled detection rates.

Dave Thompson, chief constable of West Midlands Police, said although attending the large number of burglaries is difficult, it remained a priority.

"Catching burglars should never go out of fashion," he said.

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