CRIME figures in Craven have seen a slight fall over the past 12 months - but several problem areas have been highlighted.

From the beginning of April 1999 to the end of March 2000, 2,755 crimes were reported in the five Craven local area polic-ing (LAP) districts, compared to 2,767 the previous year. That is a fall of about 0.5 per cent.

However across the western area, of which Craven forms a part, the total figure fell by five per cent.

Area commander Supt Andy Parker said he was pleased with the performance, given the district had undergone major reorganisation in terms of management and support staff.

"Clearly it has been difficult at times to concentrate on our primary objective - to reduce crime - but despite that we hit our target to reduce crime by five per cent in the western area. That means there were 682 less victims locally.

"Impressively, house burglaries were down by 26 per cent. It shows that our policy of targeting active criminals is workng."

There have been some success stories locally. In the Ingleton area, there were just six house burglaries recorded, a drop of 71 per cent, and in Settle, there were seven such offences, a fall of 61 per cent.

The Skipton figure also tumbled from 59 to 41, a 31 per cent decrease, while in Cross Hills, there were 37 fewer burglaries with 24 being reported, a fall of 60 per cent.

However, in the Grassington area, the picture was not so successful. There, the number of house burglaries rose from 18 to 31, an increase of 72 per cent.

Grassington also recorded a rise in other burglaries. Over the past year, 120 such incidents were recorded, an increase of 26 per cent.

Settle and Ingleton also saw their figures go up: Settle's by 21 per cent (to 46) and Ingleton's by 14 per cent (to 49). Cross Hills' total remained static at 62, while Skipton cut its figure by 11 per cent, ending with 102 offences.

Thefts from vehicles were reduced by three per cent across the western area, and the trend was reflected in all the Craven LAP areas except Cross Hills.

There, far from reducing such thefts, there was a 221 per cent increase, with 122 crimes being recorded compared to 38 the previous year.

"We know that we have got a problem, and people have got to be careful about leaving property in their cars," said Mr Parker.

Elsewhere, thefts from vehicles fell by 49 per cent in Skipton (to 63), by 30 per cent in Grassington (to 70), by 16 per cent in Ingleton (to 56), and by five per cent in Settle (to 39).

Craven had mixed fortunes with the theft of vehicles, with Grassington and Ingleton reducing their figures by 15 per cent and 32 per cent respectively. However Skipton, Cross Hills and Settle all recorded increases, ranging from 37 per cent to 15 per cent.

Overall, the number of vehicle thefts in Craven rose from 139 to 152, an increase of 10 per cent.

However, there was better news regarding violent crime. The western area detected 90 per cent of such offences, with Cross Hills and Settle detecting 100 per cent. "It provides some reassurance," said Supt Parker.

The area failed to meet its target to reduce incidents of disorder - in fact the total rose by seven per cent.

But Supt Parker explained: "If you take action against disorder, the figures go up. So the fact that they have gone up to some extent shows that we are doing a lot to combat it."

Regarding road safety, the number of injury accidents fell from 1,283 in 1998-99 to 1,244 last year, and 7,443 fixed penalty tickets were issued across the western area.

"Overall, the performance in Craven has been very positive, and the officers and support staff have made it happen. Also the Craven Community Safety Partnership is beginning to have an impact on reducing crime."

Looking to the future, Supt Parker said the force was committed to rural areas, and would be improving Cross Hills Police Station in the summer.

"Traditionally money has been invested in the main centres, but we are bucking that trend. We are investing quite a lot in the rural areas, and are committed to keeping our strength in rural areas."

He added that the new state-of-the art control rooms were due to go live in the autumn, with the Skipton control room being incorporated next April.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.