A MOBILE police station is just one of the initiatives to be introduced this year to ensure Craven wins the fight against crime.

Speaking to the Herald this week, Chief Insp Nick Smedley said that the area should get extra resources over the next 12 months. "We are trying to make sure officers are more accessible," he explained.

The mobile police station - a converted lorry - will travel around Craven, Harrogate and Richmond, visiting shows and areas without police stations.

Other initiatives include the introduction of four police community support officers, the use of the new automatic number plate recognition system and taking on three extra constables.

"We are also taking three Skipton officers off shift so they can become full-time community beat officers. They will concentrate on high visibility patrols and linking into the community," added Mr Smedley.

His comments come after the publication of the yearly crime figures.

Between April 1 2002 and March 31 2003, there were 3,611 crimes reported in Craven, compared to 3,141 the previous year. This represents an increase of 15 per cent.

But Mr Smedley explained: "We are not comparing like with like. Last year, the Government changed the way crimes were recorded, and we always knew there would be a lot more.

"We were told to expect a rise of at least 15 per cent - and we have come in exactly on that figure. Craven is still a low crime area, with only 69 crimes per thousand population. It is a very safe place to live."

However he added: "A lot of our crime is committed by travelling criminals from West Yorkshire and Lancashire and that makes it very difficult to detect."

The Skipton area saw the biggest increase in crime (22 per cent) followed by Ingleton (16 per cent), Settle (13 per cent), Grassington (five per cent) and Cross Hills (four per cent).

Over the past 12 months, there were 198 house burglaries across Craven - a 14 per cent rise.

"It still only equates to one burglary across the whole of Craven every two days," said Mr Smedley.

Again Skipton saw the biggest increase - 198 offences representing a 67 per cent rise. Ingleton's figure stayed static - at 21 offences - but decreases were recorded elsewhere.

Settle saw a 31 per cent fall, Grassington's figure toppled by 29 per cent, and Cross Hills had a six per cent drop.

"A substantial number of our burglaries are at insecure houses, and we have the potential to cut the number of offences by 50 per cent if residents were more security conscious," said Mr Smedley.

Other burglaries fell by seven per cent while car crime and public disorder saw slight increases of four per cent.

However, violence offences - the ones most affected by the new recording rules - went up by 51 per cent, from 441 to 665.

"It does not mean Craven has become a more violent place - it is simply that we are recording more violent crime," said Mr Smedley.

"In the past, if a police officer attended an incident and no-one wanted to make a complaint, that was not recorded as a crime. Now it is - even though it cannot be detected."

Figures show that per thousand population Craven has a higher violence rate than Harrogate - 12.7 compared with 10.4.

Last year also saw a massive increase in the number of arrests for the supply of class A drugs, such as heroin and cocaine, in Craven.

The figures rose from seven in 2001-2002 to 26 in 2002-2003. However 11 of those arrests were during a single operation, codenamed Nevis, last summer.

"The problem is there and the more we do about it, the more arrests we make," said Mr Smedley. "As someone once said, you don't have a drugs problem if you do nothing about it."

On the roads, there were 57 fatal or serious injury accidents, compared to 71 the previous year. The drop has been attributed to the number of operations carried out by the road policing unit.