IT was the former British Prime Minister and author, Benjamin Disraeli, who said there are 'Lies, damn lies and statistics'.

Residents of Ilkley are to be quizzed on why it seems they are frightened of crime when there is - according to the latest figures - really no justification for such funk. 'Crime is on the decrease, the statistics prove it so quit worrying' - is that the message we should be promoting or is there an anomaly somewhere?

Do people really think there is more crime on the streets that empirical evidence shows, or is there another explanation? Newspapers such as this one are often blamed for scaring the public into believing murderers, robbers and rapists lurk on every street corner by sensationalising what few crimes there are.

Are people afraid to go out at night simply because of what they read in the newspapers - or are they scared to go out because the police are conspicuous by their absence and the yobs have claimed the streets? The new study in Ilkley by Keighley's anti-crime partnership is designed to enlighten us all and nail down exactly what has been happening. We await the results with intense curiosity.

Despite all the uncertainty, there are a few indisputable facts underlying the issue of crime in this community.

l Ilkley police station in the last few years has gone from a permanently manned control and reporting centre to a semi-occupied satellite.

l People reporting low level crime in Ilkley have to talk to civilians and control centres miles away rather than police officers based on the doorstep, leaving them frustrated and alienated.

l Armed with the same set of figures, a clever analyst can show that crime is going up, down, sideways or performing elegant pirouettes depending on which way those figures are interpreted.

We hope that Keighley's study will convince senior police officers that disorder, crime and the insecurity generated by crime cannot be banished from a community without local law enforcement officers based in the area for which they are responsible. Criminals and rowdies are not the least bit afraid of statistics, whatever they purport to show, and neither are the public reassured by them.