CRIME in a small village north of Darlington has increased by more than 30 per cent this year.

In the first ten months of this year, there have been 38 crimes in Heighington, near Newton Aycliffe, compared to 29 in the same period last year.

The increase is against the trend because crime has fallen by 19 per cent in the surrounding area.

Although crime in rural areas like Heighington is dwarfed by problems in nearby urban areas, it is still a matter of concern for local councillors.

At a meeting of Heighington Parish Council on Thursday, beat officer PC Julian Brown gave a presentation to councillors.

He said: "Youths causing annoyance is a problem across the whole division.

"This year, we have had the usual problems reported in the village by members of the public."

Parish councillor Michael French said: "We see so little of the police that it is bothering me a lot." PC Brown said he had not been able to spend as much time in the village as he would have wanted recently because changes within Durham Constabulary had meant he was often called away from the area.

He said he had now been given a car and was able to respond to incidents in places like Piercebridge, as well as help other officers in nearby towns.

However, he said he would be spending a lot more time in the village in the run-up to Christmas.

He said: "I have been a policeman here for seven years. When I started we were getting 60 to 70 crimes a year and this has reduced, and I put this down to Neighbourhood Watch."

Councillor Gerald Lee said: "A lot of people in the village think we are crime free and we have to drive the message home that we are not."

The problem in Heighington is contrasted with an improving picture in nearby Walworth and Redworth. Crime is down in both villages this year.

Across the whole area, which has a population of 2,500, there have been 69 crimes this year, compared to 79 in the same period of 2003.

There were fewer house burglaries, but more thefts from outlying farm buildings.

PC Brown said he was also trying to launch a Farm Watch scheme.

"Rural areas are being thumped by burglaries in farmyards and we are trying to think up schemes to bring people together to tackle crime," he said.