Middle class crimewave sweeping Britain

A middle-class crimewave is sweeping the country, with 60 per cent of the population engaging in illegal practices that cost around £14 billion a year.

A new study has discovered a massive increase in the number of so-called "middle-class crimes" committed by high earners.

These include avoiding paying tax on goods we have paid cash for, insurance fraud and stealing from the office.

But researchers found that the crimewave may simply be a retaliation against a growing feeling that we are treated unfairly at the hands of retailers.

Three-quarters of people believe they have been conned by being short-changed or having items they have not purchased added to their restaurant bills.

Co-author of the study Dr Stephen Farrall, from the University of Keele, said: "The amount of money being stolen by the middle-class criminals is huge. Our estimates, based on crime survey figures, are that in the UK alone fraud and forgery is costing around £14 billion every year.

"Around half the population are unhappy about the food they buy, feeling conned with portion sizes and food quality."

Dr Farrall added: " It's undoubtedly the middle and upper classes who are doing this.

"We found our average criminal was a middle-aged male homeowner, which is pretty different from the average picture of a criminal we had."

The most popular crime was paying cash in hand for goods to avoid paying tax on them - something about half the population regularly does, according to the study.

The researchers found that people are more likely to steal the higher their social class and salary are.

The author of the report - Professor Susan Karstedt, from Keele University's Criminology department - wrote: "We surveyed more than 4,500 people for this, and the results really surprised us.

"People don't think they are doing anything wrong, and seem to have some sort of consumer rage that leads them to believe they are just evening the score, as they feel stores have ripped them off.

"They are also very annoyed at red tape and the small print surrounding goods they buy, to the extent they feel they are owed something in return.

"Police seem to only concentrate only on big corporate crimes or small petty crimes. We think this middle ground of crime could in fact be causing far more damage."

But Professor Karstedt added: "We also did an identical study in Germany, and found there they are even worse - so it's not just a British phenomenon."