Eccleshill police have revealed a breakdown of crime statistics in the division and admitted concerns about a rise in burglaries in Bradford Moor and Thornbury.

Inspector David Wormald, the division's sector commander, said he was far from happy with the increase in crime in the areas.

But he pledged to fight the criminals and make sure the statistics were not repeated.

Between April and December last year there was an increase in house burglaries in Bradford Moor and Thornbury of 47 per cent.

Other burglaries showed a rise of 69 per cent, with car crime rising 14 per cent. Violent crime dropped by 40 per cent.

Insp Wormald said: "We have got to take it on the chin. We are now dealing with this to make sure these statistics are not repeated."

He said three reasons accounted for rises in the four crime categories across the division:

lThe previous year was so successful that the targets set were very hard to maintain;

lThere was an increase in sneak-in thefts, despite much work done by the community safety team;

lOffenders jailed in 1996 were now back on the streets committing crime.

Other figures included house burglaries in Wrose dropping by 65 per cent. In Thorpe Edge the figure dropped by ten per cent and in Ravenscliffe it rose by 23 per cent.

Insp Wormald said: "Put together, the figures do not make bad reading. We will continue to weed out the criminals, get evidence and secure a conviction."

Overall for the Eccleshill division, house burglaries were up 15 per cent, detection rates were up from 19 per cent to 20.7 per cent and violent crime was down by four per cent.

Officers had a detection rate of 80 per cent on violent crime and robberies were reduced by 33 per cent to just 36 incidents. Vehicle crime was cut by 20 per cent.

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