EXCLUSIVE London's most dangerous tourist attractions: Interactive map reveals areas around capital's landmarks where visitors are most likely to get mugged or attacked
The area outside the National Portrait Gallery off Trafalgar Square came top of the list after seeing 3,060 crimes over the past year including 1,200 thefts from people.
The Royal Academy of Arts about half a mile away on Piccadilly was in second place after 1,652 crimes were reported in a year including more than 550 thefts.
The Royal Ballet and Opera and the London Transport Museum, both in the Covent Garden area, were third with 1,548 crimes and fourth with 1,227 respectively.
The British Museum near Holborn - the UK's most-visited attraction - was fifth with 1,173 crimes, while the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square came sixth with 1,004.
Also in the top ten were The Monument (828 crimes), British Library (824), Southbank Centre (773), Cutty Sark (753), Big Ben (667) and Westminster Abbey (577).
Other areas outside attractions with high crime rates included outside the Young V&A (555), Wellcome Collection (527), St Paul's Cathedral (514) and the trio of the London Dungeon, Sea Life London Aquarium and Shrek's Adventure (all 426).
Also seeing a significant number in the year were Banqueting House (394), Courtauld Gallery (323), Natural History Museum (288) and Buckingham Palace (249).
Safer areas were found to be outside Central London - including the London Wetland Centre in Barnes (six), National Maritime Museum (17) and Old Royal Naval College (18) which are both in Greenwich, Kensington Palace (19) and Eltham Palace (23).
zone straddling Oxford Street and parts of Soho which does not feature any of the attractions is London's worst area for thefts.
HOW DANGEROUS ARE THE AREAS OUTSIDE LONDON TOURIST ATTRACTIONS?
Rank Closest tourist attraction Total crimes
1 National Portrait Gallery 3,060
2 Royal Academy of Arts 1,652
3 Royal Ballet and Opera 1,548
4 London Transport Museum 1,227
5 The British Museum 1,173
6 The National Gallery 1,004
7 The Monument 828
8 British Library 824
9 Southbank Centre 773
10 Cutty Sark 753
11 Big Ben 667
12 Westminster Abbey 577
13 Young V&A 555
14 Wellcome Collection 527
15 St Paul's Cathedral 514
16 London Dungeon 426
17 Banqueting House 394
18 The Courtauld Gallery 323
19 Natural History Museum 288
20 Buckingham Palace 249
21 London Eye 220
22 Guildhall Art Gallery 217
23 Tate Modern 212
24 Somerset House 199
25 Royal Albert Hall 180
26 London Museum Docklands 175
27 Tower of London 171
28 Madame Tussauds 162
29 The Barbican Centre 160
30 The National Theatre 150
31 Shakespeare's Globe 126
32 Churchill War Rooms 124
33 Science Museum 122
34 V&A South Kensington 115
35 Tate Britain 104
36 IWM London 97
37 Design Museum 90
38 HMS Belfast 79
39 Horniman Museum and Gardens 52
39 London Zoo 52
39 National Army Museum 52
42 Kew Gardens 36
43 Eltham Palace 23
44 Kensington Palace 19
45 Old Royal Naval College 18
46 National Maritime Museum 17
47 London Wetland Centre 6
MailOnline analysis, data.police.uk • Reported crimes recorded 250m of tourist attractions(or the closest if near several); police anonymisation of crime locations may lead to some margin of error
MailOnline began its latest research by compiling popular attractions in London which are members of the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions - plus Merlin Entertainments attractions which are not, such as the London Eye and Dungeon.
Crime data was collated within 250m (800ft) of the centre of each venue using Metropolitan Police and City of London Police figures for the 12 months between May 2024 to April 2025.
If more than two attractions were within 250m of a crime, that crime was added to the total of the closest attraction - to ensure no crimes were duplicated.
This provided a quantitative view of safety outside the attractions – with recorded crime types including anti-social behaviour, bicycle theft, robbery and theft from the person.
Others were vehicle crime, violence and sexual offences, burglary, criminal damage and arson, drugs, public order, shoplifting and then 'other theft' or 'other crime'.
The area around the Royal Academy coming second is notable, given it is just across the road on Piccadilly where veteran broadcaster Selina Scott was viciously attacked and robbed in broad daylight last month.
The 74-year-old stalwart of British TV was leaving a Waterstones shop on June 17 when she was struck on the back of her right knee, leaving her feeling as if she had been 'stabbed'.
She was set upon by a gang who attempted to grab her backpack. Fighting back, she kept hold of the bag – but one of the thieves unzipped it and took her purse before running off. Ms Scott lost her bank cards, driving licence and cash in the robbery.
This week, more than 30 locations across London were identified as the worst for anti-social behaviour, theft and street crime as police patrols are stepped up.
The Metropolitan Police is desperately trying to fight back against a crime epidemic gripping the capital from pickpocketing to violence and fare evasion to robbery.
Some 20 town centre and high street areas now account for 10 per of knife crime, 24 per cent of theft person offences and 6 per cent of anti-social behaviour calls.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan's office has now confirmed there will be increased police patrols and intelligence-led plain-clothed operations in these crime hotspots.
Officials added that detectives will be targeting wanted and prolific offenders who commit multiple offences, particularly shoplifting and anti-social behaviour.
But Susan Hall AM, leader of the City Hall Conservative Group, told MailOnline: 'Crime in London continues to get worse under Labour as Londoners are marauded by criminals across the capital.
'Despite this, Khan is happy to oversee huge police cuts, denying our officers the resources they need and the public the security required to keep them safe. It's a disgrace - he needs to get a grip on this.'
The Mayor's office said the aim of its new drive was to 'put visible neighbourhood policing at the heart of fighting crime and rebuilding community confidence'.
Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner Matt Jukes said: 'Our intelligence and data-led approach to tackle the crimes that matter most to Londoners – such as shoplifting, robbery and anti-social behaviour – is already working.
'We're arresting 1,000 more criminals each month, neighbourhood crime is down 19 per cent and we've solved 163 per cent more shoplifting cases this year.
'In 32 of the hardest hit areas, we're working with the community, councils, businesses and partners, to focus our resources and bear down on prolific offenders and gangs who blight too many neighbourhoods across the capital.'
Last month, London was revealed as the 15th most dangerous city for crime in Europe – and the 100th worst out of 385 locations around the world, according to Numbeo's Crime Index .
And Matt Goodwin, senior visiting professor of politics at the University of Buckingham, wrote in the Daily Mail last month: 'London is over. It's so over.'
He cited data showing that there were 90,000 shoplifting offences in the capital last year, up 54 per cent.
Professor Goodwin added that there is now an alleged rape every hour in London – and reported sexual offences against women and girls has risen 14 per cent in five years, while homelessness and rough sleeping increased 26 per cent in one year.
Meanwhile a policing expert told MailOnline that the incident involving Ms Scott showed London had become a 'crime-ridden cesspit'.
Ex-New Scotland Yard detective Peter Bleksley said the force was now so stretched in the West End that private security companies were being deployed to help.
He condemned the 'epidemic of crime' in London from pickpocketing to violence and fare evasion to robbery, adding that it was 'driving people away' from the capital.
Separate research by MailOnline in March uncovered London's most crime-infested neighbourhoods – with Leicester Square, Covent Garden and the surrounding tourist-laden area now the capital's hotspot for violent and sex crime.
The analysis, consisting of nearly 5,000 districts across London's 32 boroughs, also found a small zone straddling Oxford Street and parts of Soho was top for thefts.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
12 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Police say ill-fitting uniforms leading to crushed testicles and lumps in breasts
Musculoskeletal damage, crushed testicles and lumps in breasts are just some examples of the harm police officers say they experience because of ill-fitting, uncomfortable and low-quality uniforms. Officers responding to the first national uniform and equipment survey across all 43 forces in England and Wales reported symptoms so severe that some had to have multiple operations. Others told how criminals warned them their uniforms left vital areas of their body exposed and even acted as a 'guide' as to where they could be stabbed. Belinda Goodwin, a former frontline officer who works for the Police Federation, had two operations to remove fistulas from her breasts that she said were caused by ill-fitting body armour. 'We had one model and size of stab vest for both men and women, and we had to wear them eight to 10 hours a day,' she said. 'The pressure for women on our breasts was intense; we were completely flattened. 'Being unable to adjust them for hours on end when you were wearing them in a public-facing role was torture. Driving in them was horrific and dangerous: they rammed up into your chin. 'After my second operation, the consultant told me that they couldn't operate again if the fistulas returned because I'd have no breast left to remove. I realised I had no choice but to leave frontline policing entirely.' Almost 21,000 police officers and staff responded to the Police Federation of England and Wales's (PFEW) survey. The research was conducted in collaboration with the National Police Chiefs' Council and led by Lancaster University Law School. One officer said: 'The current body armour doesn't seem to provide adequate coverage on officer's bodies, with large areas, including armpit areas, exposed compared to other forces' vests that feel a lot more protective. 'On numerous occasions, offenders have commented on how exposed our kit leaves us, and state that our kit acts as a target of where to be stabbed.' More than 60% of men and 85% of women reported a physical health condition that they believed was caused by or made worse through wearing uniform. The most commonly worn garments were the most problematic: 61% complained about body armour; 69% flagged cargo trousers. The survey also found inconsistent uniform quality across forces, with access to high-performance kit depending more on local budgets than operational need: negative experiences ranged from 29% in North Yorkshire to 75% in nearby South Yorkshire. One officer said: 'Cargo trousers are too restrictive when struggling with suspects. On foot patrol or foot chases, [they] do not allow for flexibility to climb, jump or fight as you should.' Another said: 'The standard fit of the patrol/cargo trousers is not fit for purpose. They are extremely tight around the groin/thigh area and often cause rubbing and soreness.' But for another officer, the trousers were too loose: 'The cargo trousers are completely unsuitable for frontline policing – they are baggy and dangerous.' The survey also found uniforms did not enable officers to carry all their equipment. 'The utility vest does not offer enough room to add all items that the force requires us to carry,' said one officer. Another said: 'The utility vest causes horrific back pain as the amount of equipment, and weight of that equipment, is too much to all be placed on the front.' When officers reported the problems, however, the survey found that their complaints were often trivialised and dismissed: almost 40% of officers had made a complaint but only 8% received replacement uniform. One force's female members cbought their own rather than use their department's trousers because the crotch was too short. 'Concerns were raised and women's health issues were not given appropriate consideration by the men deciding what we should wear. It was viewed as more of a fashion issue, and anxiety about body image and the medical issues, such as thrush, were ignored,' she said. The PFEW is calling on the Home Office to create coordinated procurement standards for uniforms with a higher minimum national standard. Melissa Russhard, the National Police Chiefs' Council lead for uniform, said: 'This survey will help give us the mandate to push forward with our moves towards setting national standardisation for uniform requirements and end the postcode lottery that exists.' A spokesperson for the Home Office said: 'We refer to individual police forces, given decisions on uniform are a matter for them.'
Daily Mail
12 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Charlotte Crosby shares fresh details of terrifying break-in at her £1.4million mansion and admits she called her mum for help rather than the police
Charlotte Crosby has recalled fresh details of her terror after an attempted break-in at her £1.4million mansion. The Geordie Shore star, 35, was left terrified when she and fiancé Jake Anker were subjected to an attempted armed burglary at their Sunderland pad in November. Charlotte was heavily pregnant with their second child Pixie Cecilia, now seven months, at the time, while they were also home with their another daughter Alba, two. Speaking on Luke Hamnett's brand new podcast Live Laugh Luke, Charlotte recalled the terrifying incident and admitted she had no idea what to do. She recalled never having felt fear like it and first called her mother Letitia for help rather than 999, because she had never called the police before in her life. 'There's not much to talk about we got broken into and I was pregnant, Jake and Alba were there and it all happened very fast,' she recalled. 'We were downstairs and we heard all these footsteps and we heard these sounds and there was footsteps upstairs and I've never had fear like it and I didn't know what to do. 'Jake went upstairs to get them out and I didn't know what to do. I've never rang the police and instead I rang my mum and I told her to ring the police. 'Jake chased them out, they didn't have time to rob anything. We were already looking at houses to move because our house was too big.' The incident was caught on their baby monitor and Jake chased the masked individuals out while she stood at the bottom of the stairs holding their daughter Alba. Following the ordeal, Charlotte put their house up for sale and insisted she won't be revealing the location of her new pad after shelling out on extra security measures. She recently told The Sun: 'I won't share my house anywhere online again. 'We have very intense security now and it's very expensive. It's everything you can imagine for very close protection we have - but no bodyguard!' Charlotte also discussed the ordeal on her Paramount+ reality series Geordie Stories: Charlotte's New Baby, saying she had not yet had any update from the police. 'The worst thing that could ever happen to us happened and it was all captured on Alba's baby monitor,' she recalled on the show earlier this year. 'I was at the bottom of the stars with Alba and Jake literally chased them out of the house. I cannot believe how brave he was. 'Not knowing what was going to happen was the scariest, scariest moment of my life. We're scared to be in our own home.' Charlotte was eight months pregnant at the time and welcomed her daughter Pixie just weeks after later on January 31. The couple moved into the house together in 2021 and then renovated the sprawling property, which was said to be worth in excess of £1million.
The Sun
12 minutes ago
- The Sun
Son of Sam killer invited me into dark world… he was like ‘Jack the Ripper with a gun' but cowardly admission stunned me
HALF a century ago serial killer David Berkowitz began his reign of terror in New York city - shooting random women at point blank range. Today the question remains, why did the man - calling himself The Son of Sam - go on this murderous rampage? 11 11 Berkowitz, 72, who is serving a life sentence for six murders and seven attempted murders, decided to confess all in a series of taped interviews in 1980. Now journalist Jack D Jones has revealed the contents of those interviews in a new Netflix documentary titled Conversations with a Killer: The Son of Sam Tapes. Jones, who covered prison and had spoken to many inmates, became obsessed with Berkowitz - even visiting him at weekends during his free time. Having sat across from one of America's most notorious serial killers for hours on end, the reporter believes Berkowitz took 'gratification' from seeing victims' families grieve and, in his twisted mind, wanted to be 'a hero'. Berkowitz, though, is a slippery character who keeps changing his story. After being caught he told detectives that a 6,000-year-old demon, speaking through the dog of his neighbour Sam Carr, ordered him to commit the murders. But he told Jack that story was a 'sham' to excuse slaying 'innocent people'. Jack says: 'He was a modern Jack the Ripper character with a gun. This was some crazy motherf***er.' When the reporter received a letter from New York's notorious Attica prison in 1980 with the name D Berkowitz on it, he could hardly believe it. Just three years earlier the former US soldier had been caught by police following the biggest manhunt in New York's history. Netflix drops trailer for harrowing new true crime doc The Sons of Sam: A Descent Into Darkness The Son of Sam had targeted young women with long brunette hair, often firing at the men they were with as well. Having stabbed two young women in December 1975, both of whom survived the vicious attacks, he switched to using a .44 caliber handgun. From his first shooting in July 1976 to a final failed plan to commit a massacre in August 1977, fear spread across the Big Apple. Both young men and women stopped going out at night as the police appeared powerless to stop a killer who struck at will. When Berkowitz was apprehended, police officers found bizarre messages scrawled in red all over the walls of his spartan apartment. He was a modern Jack the Ripper character with a gun Jack D Jones To the world, this loner was a dangerous 'nut job'. But that is not the impression Berkowitz gave when Jack first met him. 'Berkowitz comes over, bounds round the table and to my surprise he stuck his hand out and says 'hi, I'm David,'" Jack recalls. 'He's the last person you'd expect to be a serial killer.' Intrigued, Jack wanted to know what his motivation was for ending the lives of so many young people. Over the weeks he says 'we formed an ongoing relationship' and slowly Berkowitz opened up about his past. Making of a murderer Berkowitz was adopted by the childless Pearl and Nathan Berkowitz, with his birth mother Betty Broder not wanting to keep a child she'd had with a married man. He told Jack: 'My parents were very nice, fair, kind, loving people, everything positive.' But he admits to being 'very mean' to his devoted adoptive mother, saying: 'I used to rip up her clothes, tear a hole in her blouse or something.' Berkowitz also used to set fires in stairwells. Berkowitz comes over, bounds round the table and to my surprise he stuck his hand out and says 'hi, I'm David.' He's the last person you'd expect to be a serial killer Jack D Jones His dad Nathan thought that rather than telling Berkowitz that his mother had given him up, he would lie and say she had died in childbirth. That, though, made the youngster feel guilty about the death of his birth mum. Then his adoptive mother Pearl died from cancer when Berkowitz was aged just 14 - and in 1974 he tracked down his birth mother. He disapproved of Betty having him out of wedlock and thinking he "was an accident", adding: 'It's like a volcano erupting.' Twisted logic Berkowitz resented others seemingly following a similar path to his mother. Often his targets would be couples making out in parked cars late at night - and in his depraved mind, 'It felt like I was getting revenge." But there might be another reason. While serving in the US Army in South Korea, Berkowitz started experimenting with drugs, including the hallucinogenic LSD. Friends felt he changed after this, and he became more of a loner on leaving the forces in 1974. It has been suggested that the Robert De Niro movie Taxi Driver, about a vigilante New Yorker, released in February 1976, could have inspired him. But Berkowitz had already stabbed two women by this point and told Jack: 'The movies didn't cause it, but they did reassure me.' Cowardly killer 11 11 Berkowitz did, however, buy himself a .44 Bulldog gun because he found it hard to kill someone with a knife. The coward didn't like to make eye contact with his victims. Jack says: 'He told me he was seeking out women he could kill. He said he had to view his victims as what he wanted them to be. 'When his intended victims asked him if he needed any help or would smile, he couldn't do it.' There were occasions where he ended up helping people he had initially targeted. He told Jack: 'I was always upholding the image of a good upstanding citizen.' In his spare time Berkowitz, who worked various dead end jobs, had helped fire trucks get to blazes. Jack says: 'His whole life he'd been practising keeping this horrible side of himself inside. David Berkowitz was looking to be a hero.' But the psychotic side of his personality took over. Donna Lauria, 18, was his first victim to die, gunned down as she got out of a car in the Bronx in July 1976. Berkowitz said: 'I had so much anger, one killing wasn't going to quench it.' Late at night he would trawl the city planning his next murder, mainly choosing couples sat in cars. After 20-year-old secretary Stacy Moskowitz was shot in the head in July 1977 her funeral was shown on television. Her boyfriend Robert Violante survived the attack but was shot in the eye, leaving him permanently blinded. Jack recalls: 'He remembered the grieving process everybody was going through. He seemed to get gratification from it.' Stacy was to be his final victim. Snared by parking ticket A parking ticket led detectives to Berkowitz, who a neighbour described as 'that nut'. They became even more suspicious on learning Berkowitz had shot a dog belonging to Sam Carr for barking. With the police closing in, Berkowitz headed to the wealthy Hamptons on the coast near New York with the intention of massacring holiday makers with an automatic weapon. But the terrible weather stopped him. Berkowitz admits on tape: 'When it started to rain and there was no one around, I got in the car and went home.' After his arrest he claimed he committed murder because Sam the Demon 'made me do it'. Berkowitz was declared mentally fit to stand trial and pleaded guilty to all of the shootings, and was sentenced to 25 years to life. In his interview with Jack, though, he admitted to making up the voice in his head line because he had to 'convince myself that I'm not the one that's doing this'. He confessed: 'It was all just a sham, to be frank with you.' Even though Berkowitz will be forever known as the Son of Sam, he does not think there was anyone called Sam behind his bloody crimes. Jack thinks that this loner was desperate for attention, concluding: 'He achieved what he wanted. A lifetime of notoriety.' It could be argued that another documentary about Berkowitz will just give him what he wants. But with his next parole hearing due in May 2026, it should also convince everyone how truly dangerous this serial killer is. Conversations with a Killer: The Son of Sam Tapes is streaming on Netflix now. 11 11 11 11
