IT has already this week been named as one of the world’s capitals of over-tourism, along with Barcelona and Venice.
Now Edinburgh has warned it is suffering from one of the scourges of cities which attract the most visitors: pickpockets.
As the capital’s sometimes desperately crowded main drag of Princes Street gears up for its busiest season, police called on locals and tourists alike to watch their wallets, cameras and phones.
Two men and a woman were arrested near the iconic Balmoral Hotel at the east end of Princes Street on Thursday, The Edinburgh Evening News revealed.
They were due to appear in court yesterday on pickpocketing charges after police described ‘suspicious behaviour.”
Sergeant George Liddle of Police Scotland said: “Pickpocketing is something that we take very seriously. Thanks to the good work and vigilance of our officers, three people were arrested and charged in the city centre yesterday.
“Edinburgh is a safe city, but I must remind our residents and visitors to remain vigilant and look after your belongings. Keep your bags, cameras, wallets, purses and phones safe and don’t leave them lying out anywhere and please report any suspicious behaviour.
“Do not take large sums of cash out in public and make sure purses and wallets are kept in a zipped inside pocket. If you have any bags, make sure that they are closed and where possible shoulder and hand bags should be worn in front of you, against your body.”
One of the world’s over-tourism hotspots, Edinburgh remains well behind its peers for street thefts. Barcelona has claimed the unenviable crown as the world’s pickpocketing capital, followed by Rome. Prague and them the likes of Madrid, Paris, Florence. Pickpockets thrive on tourists, who often carry more cash and valuables then locals and are easily disorientated.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here