GOVERNMENT cash has helped bring about reductions in crime across east Durham.
The news was revealed yesterday by the District of Easington Community Safety Partnership.
The crime-fighting group said that money gained under the Government's Reducing Burglary initiative had help stamp out lawlessness in the area.
A total of £42,000 has been spent since December 1999 in areas of Peterlee, Seaham and Horden in an effort to make properties less vulnerable to break-ins.
House burglaries in the pinpointed areas have fallen by an average of 71 per cent.
Chief Superintendent Alan Saddler, who is chairman of the partnership, said that the outcome was "extremely encouraging".
He said the partnership was now actively seeking further funding to extend its work, and was waiting to hear whether a further bid for funds had been successful.
Steve Arkley, head of Community Safety at the District of Easington, and chairman of the partnership's Burglary Task Force said: "The success of the project is down to the excellent partnership working of the task group and the commitment of all those involved."
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