CRIMINALS are sticking to their own back yards instead of travelling further afield to commit offences, according to new research.

A Home Office study has punctured the belief among rural police forces that most of their crimes are committed by people coming from urban areas.

The research, carried out in North Yorkshire and Sheffield, showed that about half of offenders travel less than two miles to carry out their crimes.

But North Yorkshire Police said the Home Office picture did not tally with their own figures, which suggested most crimes were committed by people travelling into the county.

Forces including North Yorkshire have claimed that the system for funding police based on population did not take into account the problem of travelling criminals.

The study showed that, of the burglaries committed in the predominantly rural Hambleton district, 62 per cent of known offenders were from Hambleton and just 37 per cent from outside North Yorkshire.

Burglars travelled an average of 1.68 miles and for offenders convicted of taking vehicles without their owners' consent, the average distance was 2.27 miles.

In York, 90 per cent of convicted burglars were from the city and just five per cent from outside North Yorkshire.

The researchers said their study also showed most travel associated with crime was not primarily the result of detailed planning.

They said: "Offending appeared to be much more dependent upon opportunities presenting themselves during normal routines, rather than as a result of long-range search patterns."

But a North Yorkshire Police spokesman said the sample used for the research was not enough to justify concluding that criminals do not travel far.

He said: "As far as we are concerned, travelling criminals remain a major problem in rural areas."

He said the report only examined detected crime and did not take into account offences where no one was convicted.

"There is a big question mark about the validity of the conclusions that have been drawn," he said. "We have got a distinct problem, particularly on the edges of North Yorkshire, were people do come in and attack isolated areas.