Commuters and tourists travelling on the Central line are more likely to fall prey to pickpockets than any other London Underground line, according to new figures.

The statistics also show that thieves are most active at Oxford Circus station, followed by King’s Cross and Victoria. The total number of thefts on the Tube is falling, a total of 3,332 offences were reported last year, compared with 4,763 the previous year.

Passengers on the Central, Piccadilly and Circle lines are most at risk, with reported thefts on these lines accounting for nearly half of the reported pickpocketing incidents last year.

The data reveals that July is the worst summer month for pickpocketing with professional gangs flying into the capital to target wealthy tourists. Senior officers pointed out that the Central line is one of the busiest in London with more targets for criminals. Some 15 per cent of all passenger journeys on the Tube are on the Central line.

Superintendent Chris Horton, of the British Transport Police, said: “The Central line is the second-highest capacity line after the Northern line and in general there are constantly increasing numbers of passengers. In that sense, it is inevitable you will see more crime on that line than others.” He said 40 per cent of all crime on the Underground included theft of passengers’ property — and stolen mobile phones made up around a quarter of all property theft.

He added that with 6.7 crimes per million journeys on the Underground, the network could be considered a “haven of safety” compared with some London boroughs. Police say they deploy specialist pickpocket squads on the Tube to target thieves.

The figures obtained in a Freedom of Information request by insurance group LV=, also show that women passengers were targeted by thieves more than men. There were 1,247 women victims compared with 1,116 men. The gender of the remainder was not recorded.

Overall, statistics show that crime on the Underground is at its lowest figure in recent years with a total of 13,496 offences last year, compared with 16,766 the previous year.

Detective Inspector Paula Jones, of the BTP, said: “Theft of passenger property is an issue. Thefts on the rail network are very rarely opportunistic; they are committed by determined thieves whose sole intention is to steal from other passengers.”

Steve Burton, TfL’s Director of Enforcement and On-Street Operations, said: “Crime on the London Underground network is now at its lowest ever level and in 2014/15 fell for the ninth consecutive year.

“The Central line is the second busiest Tube line on our network as it passes through key night time spots and is heavily used by commuters and tourists. Our busiest lines and stations will often have higher levels of pickpocketing than quieter areas and we and our policing partners focus our efforts in these areas for this very reason. “