POLICE chiefs have hailed a big drop in the number of burglaries and violent crimes throughout North Yorkshire.

Significant reductions in these offences were the main features to emerge from new statistics, which show that there were 2,003 fewer crimes reported in the county last year.

The latest figures show falls in the number of house burglaries, vehicle crime, and robbery and violent crimes.

Chief Constable David Kenworthy said: "Overall, I am very pleased with our performance, particularly in relation to house burglaries and vehicle crime.

"We set ourselves some challenging five-year targets in these areas and have almost achieved them within two years. This should not be underestimated.

"Crimes of violence are very high on our agenda and seeing the numbers fall, while maintaining a very high detection rate, again is very satisfying."

Burglary has fallen from 10,467 offences in 1999-2000 to 9,864 last year, including a 10.4 per cent reduction in house burglaries.

Violent crime has also been reduced, falling by 4.1 per cent from 5,101 offences to 4,898, with a detection rate of 88 per cent compared to 89 per cent the previous year.

Offences of theft and handling stolen goods fell by 1,530 to 22,796, including another decrease in the number of thefts from vehicles, down by 891, and theft of vehicles, down by 144.

The number of sex offences committed fell from 294 to 289 and there were three murders, four attempted murders and one manslaughter case.

Mr Kenworthy said tackling drug dealers remained one of his highest priorities, with officers being recruited to form drug squads in each force area. The numbers of drugs offences fell from 1,408 to 1,259.

Mr Kenworthy said: "These figures represent a significant achievement. Crime has been falling in North Yorkshire in real terms since 1996. As we continue to recruit more officers and improve our resources, I am hopeful that this trend can be sustained.