Harrow is one of the UK's "crash for cash" hot spots, according to research by insurance company Aviva.

The borough had the fifth highest number of "accidents" in the country during 2015, which were deliberately caused by fraudsters seeking to claim whiplash compensation, the insurer found.

Harrow rose from seventh in 2014 in the firm's annual table of such "induced" accidents, where tricksters target innocent motorists.

The area Aviva referred to as North West London climbed from eighth to sixth spot in the list. Aviva said one in four of the fraudulent claims it dealt with occurred in Birmingham, with the city topping its list.

Nationally, the insurer said the number of induced accidents it detected had dropped by just 2% last year from a record level in 2014.

The number of staged accidents - when two damaged cars are brought together to make it look like an accident - fell by 40% during the same period.

'End the gravy train for fraudsters'

Aviva said this was due to tougher fraud prevention tools stopping cheats from taking out insurance policies in the first place.

Aviva said motoring offences accounted for 60% of the fraud it detected each year, with more than 17,000 suspicious whiplash claims currently under investigation.

Tom Gardiner, Aviva's head of fraud, said: "We remain very concerned that fraudsters continue to put their own greed ahead of innocent motorists' safety.

"Our figures show induced accidents now account for nearly half of all organised motor fraud we detect.

"Crash for cash does not just push up premiums for genuine customers, it puts innocent motorists at risk.

"It is also a significant drain on scarce public resources such as ambulance, police and A&E time, all of which are wasted on these entirely bogus claims. The number of whiplash claims is a problem unique to the UK and needs urgent reform."

He added that he welcomed proposals outlined in the Chancellor's autumn statement to remove compensation for minor, short-term injuries, which he said would "end the gravy train for fraudsters".

In January this year, two second-hand car salesmen were jailed for conning drivers in Hammersmith and Fulham out of thousands of pounds.