The UK has the highest burglary rate in Europe, according to the EU crime and safety survey.

Naming Britain a "high crime country", the survey notes that a massive three per cent of British respondents reported having their homes burgled, and assault, car theft, robbery and sex offences were also above average.

Home Office minister Tony McNulty said the findings failed to account for recent crime reduction measures, dismissing it as "three years out of date" and raising "concerns about its quality and the comparisons".

However, shadow home secretary David Davis argued the survey highlighted "government failure" which has "left the public more at risk from both property crime and violent crime than any other comparable country in Europe".

Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Nick Clegg described Britain as the "sick man of Europe" on crime.

"The government should ask itself why the prisons are at bursting point and yet the level of several crimes are still higher than elsewhere in the EU," he added.

The research was led by Gallup Europe and included telephone interviews with 6,000 over 16-year-olds in the UK.

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Author:  Joanne McCabe

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