More than 10,000 catalytic converter thefts were recorded by police in London during 2021 - with Enfield in the top three most targeted areas.

Though less than the 14,000 London-wide last year, the figure is still far higher than preceding years such as 2017 where just 173 were recorded.

Barnet saw the highest number of thefts during 2021 (1037), accounting for 10 per cent of the total in London.

There were also 741 incidents recorded in Hillingdon, the second highest figure, while Enfield had 643 and Ealing had 596.

Catalytic converters are devices fitted to car exhausts which remove harmful emissions and are targeted by thieves due to the precious metals they contain which are sold on.

They can cost as must as £800 to replace.

The figures were obtained from the Metropolitan Police by the Liberal Democrat group in the London Assembly.

Lib-Dem Assembly Member Caroline Pidgeon has called for crime prevention advice to be “stepped up” while “gangs who commit these crimes need to be tackled far more effectively”.

She said: “A crime that hardly existed in 2017 soared in 2019 and remains at worryingly high levels across much of London, with gangs most recently targeting cars in Barnet, Enfield, Ealing and Hillingdon.

“Catalytic converter thefts are a serious crime, leading to a massive financial loss for thousands of people and a rise in car premiums for everyone.”

Despite there having been more than 25,000 recorded incidents of catalytic converter theft between 2017 and 2020, just 42 people were charged in that time.

But a major police operation last year saw a prolific catalytic converter theft ring broken up, which the Met says has contributed to the fall in offences.

Chief Inspector Stephen Warnes of the Met said that the majority of catalytic converter thefts are carried out by a “sophisticated” organised crime group that targets specific boroughs and then moves on to other areas, including in Essex, Sussex and Kent.

He added it is “very hard to track them” using ANPR traffic cameras since the thieves typically change the number plate on their vehicle after every offence.

According to the Met, the most likely vehicles to be targeted for catalytic converter theft are older models of the Toyota Prius and the Honda Jazz. Chief Inspector Warnes said that there has been a “really big change” in the past few months with a lot of BMWs being targeted.