VIOLENT crime returned to the top of the election agenda yesterday after Home Office figures revealed a surge of nine per cent in recorded incidents in the final three months of the year.

Labour said the figures were down to a chance in accounting procedures and crime was, in fact, falling.

But opponents seized on the increase as evidence that the Government is failing to deliver on its promises to cut crime.

The total number of violent crimes recorded by police in England and Wales rose to 295,400 - and separate figures showed the number of gun crimes also rose by ten per cent in the year.

A 66 per cent leap in the number of incidents involving imitation firearms led Home Secretary Charles Clarke to hint he would consider banning replica guns, even though such a move appeared to have been ruled out by the Home Office less than a year ago.

However, the overall number of crimes recorded by police fell by five per cent in the quarter to 1,381,400, compared with the same period the previous year.

The separate British Crime Survey, which is based on thousands of interviews asking people about their experiences of crime, also showed an 11 per cent fall in overall crime year-on-year and a ten per cent fall in violent crime.

Mr Clarke pledged a Violent Crime Reduction Bill within weeks of the General Election, if Labour wins, to tackle the ownership and use of replica firearms and knives.

His predecessor, David Blunkett, speaking during a campaign visit to Brandon, near Durham City, said: "A lot of the petty violence associated with binge drinking on a Friday and Saturday night was never recorded and now it is.

"That may have put the figures up, but it has made a positive difference in that now we can direct police where they are most needed, and we can expand the use of dispersal powers, curfew powers and fixed penalty notices.

"Recorded crime has fallen and the British Crime Survey figures have fallen, which gives the lie to Tory propaganda that crime is rising."

His views were echoed by the Prime Minister in a radio interview, but Tory leader Michael Howard responded: "I gather Mr Blair has been patting himself on the back today over these new crime figures.

"The truth is that crime has gone up by 15 per cent since 1998.

"Violent crime has gone up much more. What people want, I think, is not more talk from Mr Blair, but action."

The figures showed the number of fatal shootings fell to 70 last year, and serious injuries related to gun crime dropped by 12 per cent.

But there was a 74 per cent jump in the number of slight injuries recorded due to gun crime, from 1,754 in 2003 to 3,051 last year.

Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Mark Oaten said: "Labour's promises ring hollow in the light of the latest violent crime figures. The binge drinking culture is to blame, and in eight years Lab-our has done little about it."

* A police officer yesterday accused Tony Blair of failing to put enough of his colleagues on the beat. The officer, who identified himself only as Carl, was speaking during a phone-in for BBC Radio 5 Live

Mr Blair said: "I speak to a lot of police officers, Carl, who don't actually share that perspective and who actually believe that they are getting on top of the crime situation."