Research has highlighted how more than 43,000 vans have been stolen since 2016, which equates to over 30 vans being stolen every day.

A further 117,000 vans were broken into during that period, costing drivers and businesses more than £61.9 million in lost tools and other items.

The study, by What Car? Vans, also shows that four-in-10 of all new vans on sale do not come with an alarm as standard.

Of all the new vans on sale by the company just 58% of models come with a factory fitted alarm as standard.

Another 36.5% were found to offer a factory fitted alarm as an optional extra, while 5.5% of vans on sale today are not available with an alarm at all – though these tend to be older model iterations soon to be replaced.

Jim Holder, editorial director at What Car? Vans, said: “More than four million van drivers rely on their vehicle for work or business needs.

“The fact that four out of 10 new vans on sale do not feature a factory fitted alarm as standard is a cause for concern – especially as our research found more than 43,000 have been stolen since 2016, with a further 117,000 broken into.

“While newer vans and higher trim specifications now come with many of the security features as standard, it’s concerning to see owners of lower trim levels having to fork out extra for something as simple as an alarm – this is something the industry needs to work on and underlines why van buyers must do careful research before purchasing their next vehicle.”

Other security measures, including remote central locking, were better represented with more than 90% of vehicles featuring the security option as standard, while deadlocks are standard in more than 80% of vans on sale. 

The figures of the 43,000 stolen vans were gathered from data from 45 police forces and was put down to the lack of alarm technology by What Car? Vans.

London was statistically the worst area, with 14,263 vans stolen in the four-year period, while 44,742 were broken into by thieves.

Data also shows that the year-on-year increase in thefts should be a worry for van owners, with thefts rising by 8.21% between 2017 and 2018, and the early data from 2019 suggesting a further yearly rise.

Keyless thefts have also increased in recent years, which could be another contributing factor to the rise in thefts.

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