Via a baffling set of tables which would leave even master statisticians scratching their heads, West Yorkshire Police are claiming big improvements in their operational performance in the Bradford district. Given the difficulties involved in checking their figures, we must take it on trust that the story they have to tell is one of widespread good news.

Overall, it is claimed that recorded crime fell by 21 per cent in the six months to September while the number of solved crimes leaped by more than 20 per cent. Robberies are down by 50 per cent, house burglaries by 43.5 per cent and thefts from vehicles have been cut by just under 40 per cent. The theft of vehicles fell by more than 24 per cent, and even violent crime was cut by 8.3 per cent.

Terrific news all round then, which should help to reduce the fear of crime across the district. West Yorkshire police are to be congratulated on their achievement. Although the number of violent crimes remains worryingly high at 6,298, their efforts in recent months generally appear to be paying off.

Criminals are being deterred and more of them are being caught thanks to a range of measures including advances in technology and the targeting of persistent offenders. It seems clear, too, that an important factor has been the higher profile of policing thanks to more officers being recruited and the visible presence of Community Support Officers on the streets.

For long enough ordinary people have been saying that more officers on the beat was an obvious way to cut crime. These figure seem to prove that they were right.