POLICE in Hartlepool have been praised for driving down house burglaries to an all-time low.

During the six months to the end of September, house burglaries were down by 13 per cent compared to the same period last year.

Talking about the figures, the vice-chairman of Cleveland Police Authority, Russell Hart, also backed calls for people to be more vigilant.

He said: "We shall continue to press home the drive to increase police numbers in Hartlepool and the rest of the Cleveland force area, and that will certainly be underlined when we meet Home Office Minister Charles Clarke.

"I think we also need to underline the message from the police that, if they are to maintain this trend, and keep the burglaries coming down, they need everyone's help and they need people to be more vigilant.

"The fact that 40 per cent of burglaries in the town are from houses, which have been left insecure by householders, speaks for itself and, as the police have pointed out, it is even more important that, at this time of the year, with the dark nights, people do take care.