CRIME in Cross Hills has dropped by 29 per cent during April to August compared with the same period last year - and was the only district in the western area to see a decrease.

The number of crimes fell to 189, compared to 266 in 2001.

Acting Inspector Steve Scott, who is responsible for Cross Hills, said he could not pinpoint the reason but he thanked his officers for their efforts and warned them not to become complacent.

For the same time periods in other areas, Skipton saw a rise of 205 crimes, Grassington a rise of four crimes, Ingleton 19 and Settle 10.

Overall the crime figures for Craven rose by 16 per cent which was the best performance of all western area districts. Harrogate's rose by 22 per cent and Richmondshire's by 48 per cent.

Insp Tad Nowakowski said he had expected a rise because of changes in the way incidents were recorded, but added the performance figures were still good.

He said new procedures meant that if someone reported an assault but did not want to act on it, it would still be recorded as a crime.

Across Craven there were 56 domestic burglaries between April and July 2002, just two more than last year. Grassington, Ingleton and Settle all saw a drop in the number of burglaries.

Violent crimes increased by 26 per cent - compared to Harrogate's 49 per cent, and Richmondshire's 137 per cent. Only Cross Hills saw a fall in violent crime - down by 59 per cent or 17 incidents.

There have been 46 more public order offences in Craven this year the biggest growth in the western area.

One of Craven's priorities for this year has been to target drug dealers. Pro-active work including a dawn drugs raid has meant the number of drugs offences has seen a huge increase. Between April to July 2001 there were just three offences but this leapt to 22 for the same period this year.

Insp Nowakowski said that if the police had done nothing the figures might have looked better but the drugs would still be out on the streets.

Auto crime has dropped by seven per cent across Craven, with decreases recorded in Cross Hills and Ingleton. There was also a fall of five road traffic accidents, down to 22, that resulted in death or serious injury.

Insp Nowakowski thought the reason for the good crime figures was a joint effort between the police, and other bodies like Neighbourhood Watch.