PARTNERSHIP initiatives and the opening of a drug addiction centre have brought a dramatic drop in crime in the Wear Valley and Teesdale districts.

Figures for the Wear and Tees police division for the three months from April to June show a 16.3 per cent fall in the crime rate, double the reduction for County Durham as a whole.

The division's 41 per cent cut in vehicle crime is a big success story and is the highest in the county.

In the Wear Valley, incidents of house burglary have been reduced by 25.2 per cent, those of criminal damage by 12 per cent and of violent crime by 18 per cent.

Police have worked with councils and other agencies on a range of crimefighting initiatives. Intelligence-led operations target known offenders and hotspots, sometimes using mobile closed-circuit television cameras.

Street wardens who patrol high crime areas also fit security measures to homes and outbuildings.

A Positive Futures Co-ordinator and council Community Physical Activities Co-ordinators help to keep young people off the streets.

A youth inclusion programme in Crook and Willington has built on the success of a similar scheme in Bishop Auckland.

External funding has paid for security measures and lighting to be fitted to the exterior of homes of vulnerable elderly people. More money could be available next year.

Because a high proportion of burglaries and petty thefts are linked to drug-taking, the opening of an addiction centre in Bishop Auckland last year has been a major factor n the crime reduction.

More addicts are entering treatment programmes at the Castlebridge Centre, which has been identified recently as one of two areas of exceptional practice.

Chief Superintendent Robin Trounson, who chairs the Wear and Tees Community Safety Partnership, said: "This is excellent news for everyone concerned about safety and security in Wear Valley.

"It means 275 fewer victims of crime, 24 less houses broken into, more than 50 fewer cases of damage, 40 fewer victims of violence and 125 fewer cars stolen or broken into.

"This is only the start. Now we have to sustain the reduction and really make people feel safer."