A DRAMATIC reduction in the number of burglaries in Sedgefield borough has been recorded this month.

Statistics for January show that the number of burglaries has dropped by 27, compared with the same time next year.

PC Neil Langthorne, crime prevention officer for Sedgefield police, reported the figures at a burglary action group meeting yesterday.

He said the figure would help make up for a blip in summer, when the number of burglaries rose sharply.

"At the last meeting I reported there had been a problem over the summer months with sneak-in burglaries," he said.

"But the January figure leaves us just three adrift from the previous year's total, so we are just about on course to maintain what we did 12 months ago."

PC Langthorne said intelligence reports were unable to explain the sudden drop, although a couple of significant arrests in the borough might have played a part.

He also said he felt Operation Darc, a force-wide campaign against burglaries, could have helped to reverse the situation.

The initiative was similar to Operation Lancelot, which has been running successfully in Sedgefield over the past few years.

It was introduced to coincide with the seasonal rise in break-ins, which traditionally happens during the long winter months.

In the three months of the operation, which ran to the end of December, there were 77 offences recorded, slightly down on the previous year.

PC Langthorne said: "I would certainly say it has been a success.

"It has been slightly different to previous years when we have run it on a divisional basis, but this is the way it is going to go now."