West at top of fear of crime league table

But the BBC presenter's home town of East Kilbride has now gained a further distinction: as the property crime fear capital of Scotland.

The sprawling new town, south-east of Glasgow, has topped a national table measuring residents' fear of having their homes broken into.

New research shows that almost half of residents in the neighbourhood of East Kilbride South, 46.3 per cent, are afraid of intruders gaining access to their properties.

The statistics, compiled by market research firm CACI, which surveyed every council ward in the country, reveal a distinct split between the east and west of Scotland.

No fewer than six of the top ten neighbourhoods where residents are most worried about housebreaking are in Lanarkshire, with the other four in neighbouring Glasgow, Inverclyde, East Dunbartonshire and North Ayrshire.

In contrast, five of the ten districts where people are least concerned about housebreaking are in Edinburgh.

The North Lanarkshire neighbourhoods of Coatbridge West and Abronhill, Kildrum and the Village, Cumbernauld, came second and third in the table compiled for CACI's latest British Crime Survey.

Others in the top ten included Inverclyde East, and Kirkintilloch East and Twechar, East Dunbartonshire.

Property crime fears were lowest in central Edinburgh, with 30 per cent expressing concern, followed by the capital's Leith Walk and Meadows/Morningside neighbourhoods.

Thousands of people across the UK were questioned on their experiences and perceptions of crime for the survey.

Politicians were surprised that East Kilbride was in the top spot. Andy Kerr, the town's MSP, believes a high-profile police campaign in the town, urging people to beware of housebreakers, was largely responsible for it being perceived as a crime hot spot.

The former Labour health minister said: "There was a recent spate of break-ins in East Kilbride South in order to obtain car keys.

"The police then launched a very effective operation, where a number of arrests were made and cars worth a total of 500,000 were recovered.

"We need to ensure that if communities are indicating a fear of crime then there is an appropriate response from the police, which is exactly what happened here.

"However, when the police advise residents in a community to take preventative measures, people are inevitably going to be thinking more about crime, and I believe that is what is showing up here."

However, Strathclyde Police statistics for East Kilbride South show that, in the past year, the number of break-ins recorded rose from 231 to 271, a 17 per cent increase.

Craig Gallacher's East Kilbride home was broken into in May, shortly after he returned from a work posting in Afghanistan.

The electrical engineer, who works for the Ministry of Defence, had his luggage and photographs stolen along with his car keys and Honda Civic, which was parked nearby.

The 29-year-old said: "Thankfully I managed to recover most of the photographs and the rest of my stuff will be covered by insurance, but the thought of someone breaking into our home is a horrible feeling."

Crime levels rose in half of Scotland's neighbourhoods, according to figures released last year.

Data provided by Scotland's eight police forces revealed that of the country's 1,130 beats, 546 reported an increase in offences.