CRIME has fallen by six per cent in Cambridgeshire - with thousands fewer victims compared to last year.

Annual Home Office statistics have revealed that for the year ending March 31 there were 56,583 crimes in 2010/2011, down from 60,017 last year.

Incidents of burglary, vehicle crime, robbery and criminal damage all fell by more than 10 per cent while there were slight increases in violent and sexual offences.

Anti-social behaviour incidents fell by 11 per cent to 42,435.

Chief Constable Simon Parr said: “These figures show that despite the challenging times we are going through, we are continuing to successfully tackle crime.

“It is particularly pleasing to see reports of anti-social behaviour down by more than 5000 and significant reductions in crimes which cause distress, such as burglary and robbery.

“However, we are not complacent and we will not let up in our efforts to drive down crime by targeting offenders.

“We are facing financial challenges but these will not deter us from our aim to make criminals fear crime and its consequences, not the public.”