A senior police officer has assured people in Denholme that the village is one of the safest in the area.

Insp David Drucquer, of Keighley Police, responded to residents' fears over the village's crime rate.

He told last week's town council meeting Denholme has one of the lowest crime rates of communities in the Bradford division. But he pledged to give 110 per cent effort in the fight against crime in the village.

Police came under fire from residents who said not enough was being done to combat drug dealers living in the village. The meeting heard rumours were going round Denholme that vigilante groups could be set up to tackle the problem. But Insp Drucquer was keen to allay residents' fears about the level of drug-related crime.

He also highlighted a fall in the number of reported crimes in Denholme. "There have been seven crimes reported so far in November and this bucks the trend in West Yorkshire," he said. "Denholme is becoming more peaceful and less crime-ridden than the rest of the division."

Insp Drucquer said police had carried out drug raids in the village which led to the arrest of one man being charged with a drugs offence. "We have to work within the law," he warned. "We have to bide our time."

Insp Drucquer said the number of reported crimes in Denholme had dropped from 27 in July to 24 in August, 18 in September and 12 in October.

Responding to criticism of slow reaction times, Insp Drucquer said the police were actually surpassing targets by reaching 95 per cent of emergency calls within 15 minutes. The target set is 90 per cent.

Town mayor Cllr Russell Driver said: "I think I'm speaking on behalf of the council when I say we have full confidence in the actions of the police. We need to be left alone by the media so the authorities can get on with the job they are employed to do.

"We do not hold with the vigilante element running around and we as a town council believe the authorities are working for us. We recognise there is a problem that needs to be addressed and we believe that if the media will leave us alone we can put our house in order through the proper channels."

Denholme hit the headlines recently when Det Con Gary Gregory - a policeman who lives in the village and works in Manchester - said he had made more than a dozen 999 calls which had gone unanswered. He said he was forced out of his home by gangs of youths who daubed graffiti on his walls and shouted abuse at his family.

Denholme town councillors and representatives from the first school and church met recently with senior police chiefs at Keighley, including Chief Inspector Mark Bradley, to discuss the situation.

Members of Denholme Action Group claim many crimes reported by villagers are still not being followed up by police.

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