THE North remains among the safest places to live in the country when it comes to gun crime.

Durham and Northumbria Police areas both recorded a fall in the number of their already low level of firearms offences over the past year.

In North Yorkshire, the picture was even better, with the lowest tally of such offences in all of England and Wales.

Statistics published by the Home Office show that in 2008-9, there were only 1.4 firearms offences per 100,000 population in North Yorkshire – more than ten times lower than the national average.

It amounts to 11 firearms offences reported in the county – a fall of six from the previous year.

Durham Police recorded 22 incidents, a fall from 45, while Northumbria’s total dropped from 78 to 51 – in both cases representing 3.6 offences per 100,000 people.

Only Cleveland recorded a rise, with incidents more than doubling from 15 to 34, amounting to 6.1 offences per 100,000.

Nationally, the figures fell 18 per cent, from 17,343 to 14,250 – 15.1 offences per 100,000 people – 60 per cent of them in London, Greater Manchester and the West Midlands.

Detective Chief Superintendent Richard Mann, from North Yorkshire Police, said: “These figures are primarily due to the excellent assistance and information we receive from the public, who play an active part in supporting us to try and keep our neighbourhoods safe.

“We are not complacent, but we are very pleased that our joint efforts have led to such low levels of firearms criminality. We intend to continue doing all that we can to keep it that way.”

A Durham Police spokesman said: “Traditionally, our area is a safe place to live and work and has relatively little gun-related crime.”

A Cleveland Police spokesman said: “Whilst there have been some high-profile and well-reported cases involving the use of firearms, for example supermarket robberies, the total number of recorded offences include many other uses, such as the unlawful shooting of game and vermin, that the police are required to respond to and deal with.”