A fresh set of crime figures out today show Suffolk remains a safe county with overall crime down in the last six months by more than 3pc.

The figures, which are for the first six months of the financial year, from 1st April to the end of September 2011 show that in most areas crime levels are down.

Overall recorded crime has decreased from 25,008 crimes to 24,200.

There have been 444 less incidents of violence against the person, which can be attributed to a pro-active response to policing the nighttime economy in the large towns across the county.

House burglaries have decreased by 5pc with 49 less than the same period last year, and encouragingly there have been 37 fewer distraction burglaries than the previous year.

Other areas of note include robbery offences, which have decreased by 4pc, vehicle crime down by 3pc and criminal damage down by 8pc.

Assistant Chief Constable Paul Marshall has been encouraged by the figures and puts the decrease down to positive, high-visibility policing, multi-agency teams tackling anti-social behaviour and a number of offenders being arrested, particularly in relation to burglaries.He said: 'The figures for the first six months of the year reflect the excellent work of officers that is going on in the county. The night-time economy is always an area of concern that we focus on, particularly in our larger towns, where alcohol consumption can often lead to violent behaviour, to see that there has been a decrease of 444 incidents since the same period last year is a positive step forward.

'Burglaries and anti-social behaviour are two areas that local people always raise with us as crime that concerns them, again it is pleasing to see that there has been a decrease in the number of these offences.

'Positive policing has seen a number of prolific burglars being arrested in the county and our anti-social behaviour teams who work closely with partner agencies are making an impact in relation to repeat and persistent incidents of anti-social behaviour.'

Areas that have seen an increase in crimes include sexual offences, which are up by 9pc (34 offences), theft of pedal cycles, which have risen by 9pc (88offences) and drugs offences that have increased by 13pc. (94 offences).

Mr Marshall added: 'The increase in these areas are a concern for us, however with the opening of the Sexual Assault Referral Centre earlier this year hopefully victims of sexual assault now feel more comfortable reporting such offences to us in the knowledge that they will receive dedicated help and support not only from the police but other partner agencies as well.'

'Theft of cycles is a problem which we have seen increasing year on year for the past three years.

'There is a market for stolen cycles and some are being used for scrap metal value, our message is that owners must keep their cycles secure and out of sight when not in use.

'Finally the increase in the number of drug offences is an example of the positive action the Constabulary has taken and continues to take in relation to drugs in Suffolk.

'This increase should be seen as a positive sign of police activity rather than an apparent increase in drug abuse.'