The easing of lockdown has seen a spike in burglaries, with Hackney and Islington affected, according to a study.

Analysis of Metropolitan Police data by Lawsons Solicitors and Roché Security found a 28 per cent rise in attempted burglaries across the capital from July 2020 to last month from previous averages.

In the three months after the first lockdown restrictions were eased in July 2020, burglaries increased by 28pc across London, with figures rising by 30pc in Hackney, 6pc in Islington and by as much as 72pc in Haringey – all compared to the previous three months.

And with lockdown restrictions having eased, analysts are wary of another rise in burglary attempts.

Stephen Halloran, director at Lawtons Solicitors, said: “Of course, people being at home 24/7 makes burglaries a lot less likely, as the data shows us.

“The rise in crime after lockdown is also inevitable, but what worries me is that people became complacent after the last lockdown eased.

“Some areas that had a lower number of burglaries during lockdown then had huge increases again when restrictions were lifted.

“We certainly noticed a dramatic spike in burglary cases when previous lockdowns ended and we’re expecting the same will happen after July 19.

“Unfortunately, pandemic-fuelled unemployment and people falling on hard times only exacerbates the problem, tempting people into burglary.”

Hackney saw 350 attempted burglaries from February 2020 to February 2021, and Islington saw 365 in the same period.

Across London, Barnet saw the most, with 501, and Kingston had the fewest with 131.

Lawtons collected and analysed Metropolitan Police data from January to September 2020, the three-month periods before, during and after the first UK lockdown.

A Freedom of Information request gathered from Metropolitan Police shows that burglars were most likely to steal in 2020, in order: Personal bicycles and accessories with 10,608 stolen; British currency (5,844) burglaries, laptops (4,131), then credit cards, power hand tools, computers, mobile phones, watches, keys and padlocks, and pendants and necklaces.

Less common items stolen included horses, zoo and farm animals, intercom systems, pet food and explosives.