A defenceless man, 70, is attacked in his own bed in the North-East. Yet the region is left out of Blunkett's drive to crack down on violent crime...

VICTIMS' campaigners have reacted with fury after the North-East was left out of a new Home Office blitz on violent crime.

Home Secretary David Blunkett's Robbery Reduction Initiative, announced yesterday, came only hours after a County Durham pensioner was left for dead when cosh-wielding thugs beat him up in his own bedroom.

Despite the attack on the frail 70-year-old as he slept, the region has been excluded from ten English police forces chosen to spearhead Mr Blunkett's initiative.

Campaigners said Saturday morning's attack illustrated why the Home Secretary's initiative had again left the North-East out in the cold.

The pensioner was asleep in his home in Leadgate, near Consett, when he awoke to find two men in his bedroom.

He was beaten around the head, hands, neck and back and was left shocked and covered in blood. He staggered to a phone box, called the police and was taken to hospital.

Detective Inspector Simon Orton, who is leading the investigation, described the assault as "particularly vicious, cynical and calculated, which could have resulted in death".

The government's latest crime-busting drive, which will begin next month, means more officers on the streets and better support for victims and witnesses.

It comes against a backdrop of soaring street crime, which rose by 13 per cent in 2000/1, and has increased further this year.

Victims' groups said it was yet another well-trumpeted crime reduction scheme that would never see the light of day.

David Hinds, of the North of England Victims' Association, said: "If David Blunkett wants to reclaim the streets of Britain, as he says, he should do it all over the country.

"This is yet another wasted government scheme that isn't far-reaching enough.

"The North-East has one of the highest murder rates in Britain, and almost certainly one of the highest in violent crime.

"It's a vast area, from Berwick to Teesside, but it is always left out of these so-called government initiatives. It's no surprise to me."

Norman Brennan, director of the Victims of Crime Trust, said Mr Blunkett's idea was nothing new.

"It is very unlikely to happen," he said. "We've had promise after promise from the government and yet people are still being attacked in the street and in their homes.

Referring to the weekend incident, he said: "The sad reality of this particular attack is that, should any suspects be arrested for the crime there will be dozens of organisations set up to represent them every step of the way."

An action group, to be chaired by the Home Secretary, is to be created to look at the criminal justice system.

Mr Blunkett said: "We are facing head-on the thuggery and violence on our streets.

"We literally must reclaim our streets for the decent law-abiding citizens who want no more than to be able to walk safely, to live peacefully and go about their business freely, untroubled by the fear of attack."

The forces taking part will be the Metropolitan, West midlands, West Yorkshire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Avon and Somerset, South Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Thames Valley and Lancashire.

Shadow home secretary Oliver Letwin said: "It is genuinely surprising that the Home Secretary should think it is sufficient to reclaim the streets in ten blackspots.

"What we need is careful, effective, long-term reform which puts the police back on our streets and reclaims those streets for the honest citizen throughout Britain."