New Addington has been revealed as the postal area most at risk from identity theft in the whole country, the results of a survey claim.

According to the research undertaken by the credit reference agency Callcredit, New Addington has topped its ID Fraud list.

Callcredit said it used recent confirmed cases of fraud to identify postcode areas of high fraud risk.

However this has come as a surprise to New Addington councillor Brenda Kirby who says she has only ever known of one case of identity theft in her years of serving as a New Addington councillor.

She said: "It's not something I've been made aware of. In fact, I've only heard of one case of identity theft and that was this year by someone whose personal information was lost by the government.

"Their case has since been resolved but I'm not aware of New Addington having a particularly high rate of identity theft.

"A lot of people in New Addington don't have bank accounts and it's very much a cash economy for some people.

"People don't really do much shredding of documents up here either."

According to Callcredit's research, New Addington is the highest risk postcode while London is the highest risk region for identity fraud.

Top tips on how to protect your identity include always shredding important documents, keeping passwords and PINS secret amd safe, making sure your PC is protected from hackers and keeping a note of useful numbers to contact should you suspect you are a victim of identity fraud.