Ed Sheeran has claimed that every area of London is ‘sketchy’ as he took aim at the violent crime wave sweeping the capital.
In an interview with American stand-up comedian, Theo Von, the Shape of You star admitted he is often fearful about his safety while visiting the city.
He claimed that anyone who shows signs of wealth could find themselves the target of muggers — and that both ‘nice’ and ‘bad’ areas of the city are ‘sketchy’.
The 33-year-old singer-songwriter lives in his £3.7million Suffolk estate with his wife Cherry Seaborn and their daughters Lyra and Jupiter, but owns 27 properties in the capital.
The star, who is worth around £200million, has slowly been accumulating the land around his country home in Suffolk, which has been dubbed Sheeranville.
When asked by Von what the most ‘dangerous’ place in the UK is, Sheeran said: ‘Here? I’d say every area of London. Literally, every area is sketchy. I think that you cannot be anywhere. It’s not like a segregated city.
‘No, I mean the nice areas are sketchy, the bad areas are sketchy, but you just have to not do stupid sh**. If you wander around with, I dunno, like a Louis Vuitton duffel bag and a 200 grand watch, you are going to get robbed. But just don’t do that.’
Ed Sheeran speaks to Theo Von on his This Past Weekend podcast
Ed Sheeran waded in on the lawless London debate and claimed every part of the city was ‘sketchy’
Sheeran claimed that anyone who shows signs of wealth will make them a target of muggers
In February, it was revealed that muggings in London West End had tripled in the last two years, with thefts making up around 60 per cent of crime in the West End.
London’s street crime epidemic last year saw theft from a person offences soar by 27 per cent compared to the previous 12 months.
Metropolitan Police figures show there were 72,756 of those crimes reported in the year to 2023, up from 57,468 in 2022.
Moped and e-bike gangs have been identified as prolific culprits.
Sheeran went on to criticise the Conservative party’s lack of support for the Arts, accusing them of preferring to support bankers over bands.
He said the UK is ‘famous for our art’ but the government is ‘putting importance on maths and banking’ rather than community arts.
Ed Sheeran has waded in on the lawless London debate as the star claimed every area of the capital is ‘sketchy’. Pictured: Sheeran at the 2024 Met Gala
An officer wrestles with a young man on Oxford Street after police responded to a TikTok inspired looting spree
Plain-clothed Metropolitan Police officers posed as victims to catch watch thieves in London
Fans were recently given a glimpse into the star’s life in the documentary series entitled Ed Sheeran: The Sum Of It All.
The documentary showed viewers the rustic yet modern kitchen, decorated with colourful artwork and sleek marble worktops.
The star’s living room includes a vast vintage piano, and Ed also showcased a particular canvas he’d made, joking it’s ‘what his head looks like inside.’
Ed’s home also boasts a private recording studio where he pens his of tracks, decorated with photographs of his family and friends.
His estate boasts sprawling fields of land surrounding his home, with a wooden treehouse in one area, and a vast swimming lake in another.
A MailOnline investigation found last month that crime has soared in London after more than 100 local police stations were shut down.
It emerged that only 36 police stations remain open in the capital compared to the 160 that the city had in 2008 – a reduction of an astonishing 77%.
The cuts have doubled the distance an average Londoner has to travel to their nearest manned police help desk to around two miles – with researchers warning criminals were specifically targeting areas the Met has abandoned.
The four-part series was predominantly filmed at the singer’s vast home where he resides with wife Cherry Seaborn
It’s huge! Among the highlights in Ed’s huge home are his own recording studio where he penned his most recent album Subtract
Cute! One shot showed the vast array of paintings done by Ed’s daughter Lyra, decorating the kitchen cupboards
Their home is surrounded by 16 acres of land
Among those closed, some have been turned into luxury flats, others remain vacant – and one was even taken over by gangsters to be used as a weed factory.
MailOnline visited the areas around a number of former police stations to find a consistent pattern of anecdotal accounts of an increase in crime – accompanied by a feeling of powerlessness in the face of this.
Analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies found police station closures were linked to a 11 per cent increase in local assaults and murders, a doubling of response times and a reduction in the reporting of shoplifting and bike thefts.
But, if anything, anecdotal evidence we gathered from residents suggests that crime rates could be even higher – as many say they have simply given up reporting crime such is their dissatisfaction with the Met Police.
Typical are those living close to that police station that was used to grow cannabis – as much as £1 million worth it was estimated when it was uncovered 18 months ago – in Streatham, south London.
There Raja Luthra, 72, has run a jeweller for 50 years – but only felt the need to install remote-controlled metal gates at the front of his shop when the police station across the road shut down a decade ago.
Streatham police station abandoned and left to decay on the high street. Its closure has left locals fearing for their lives due to armed phone snatching gangs
He told us: ‘It is the only way I can guarantee not getting robbed after the police station closed down.
‘I used to be able to take lunch round the corner but not anymore. The whole area has become more dangerous and it got worse after the police left.’
Streatham Police Station is now boarded up and daubed in graffiti with cardboard patched over glass-less windows.
Mr Luthra went on: ‘It sounds like something I made up but a few years ago there was a fire here.
‘When there was an investigation they realised electricity was being illegally syphoned to the old police station to grow the cannabis plants and it started a fire. To think – a cannabis factory in an old police station.’