HC Deb 18 December 1963 vol 686 cc207-8W
16. Mr. A. Lewis

asked the Postmaster-General whether he will state the dates during the past 12 years on which mailbag and post office robberies took place, and the amount of loss in each case.

Mr. Bevins

I regret that full information in the form requested by the hon. Member is not available: but the following statement shows the number of robberies of all kinds, that is thefts or attempted thefts in which violence was used or threatened, which are recorded as affecting the Post Office in each year since 1954–55, and the amount lost.

ROBBERIES AND ATTEMPTED ROBBERIES
Year Total number Gross amount of loss
£
1954–55 17 33,195
1955–56 17 5,209
1956–57 22 5,624
1957–58 27 5,289
1958–59 67 30,456
1959–60 78 38,622
1960–61 76 77,065
1961–62 96 118,300
1962–63 113 187,380
1963–64 (to 30th November, 1963) 44 2,617,852*
TOTAL 557 3,118,992
* Includes a loss of £2,595,998 in the train robbery of 8th August, 1963.
Notes
1. No loss occurred in 289 of the 557 cases.
2. 1954–55 is the earliest year for which statistics are available in a form comparable with those for subsequent years.