CRIME is falling and targets for this year are already being met, according to police statistics.

Rossendale Police said there had been an 11 per cent reduction in crimes in Haslingden between April 2006 and April 2007.

Inspector Dave Hodson said the number of crimes committed in the 2005 to 2006 financial year was 476 and for the period 2006 to 2007 the figure was 431, a drop of 45 crimes.

Insp Hodson made the announcement at the Haslingden, Helmshore and Edenfield Neighbourhood Forum, held at Edenfield Primary School.

He said the target for April, 2008, had already been met and whatever is achieved now was a bonus.

He said there had been 14 fewer reports of burglaries; the figure for 2005/06 was 32 and for 2006/07 it was 18.

However, he said there had been a slight increase in vehicle crime with the figure rising from 58 to 59 over the two periods, but looking at the borough as a whole vehicle crime had fallen.

He also said there was an incident in Haslingden when six cars were attacked in the same night.

Of the 431 crimes reported last year, so far 90 of them had been detected, Insp Hodson said.

He said: "This is one of the best, if not the best in the Pennine Division and I am very pleased with it.

"We are working well and working hard."

Insp Hodson said that Operation Vault, which was launched to prevent crooks travelling into Rossendale to commit crime from Merseyside and Manchester, was working to bring down the number of robberies in the area.

He said: "It proves that the tactics we are using are working at deterring people."

He said Operation Summer Nights would begin again on July 1, targeting crime, anti-social behaviour and criminal damage over the summer months, and assured members of the public that more rural areas such as Edenfield would be part of patrols and he would not be directing officers to concentrate on Rawtenstall Town Centre.

PC Luke Mulla, a community beat manager for the area, gave an update on the problem of drug dealing in the Haslingden area.

He said a warrant executed last year led to one dealer being sentenced to two years in prison and he hoped this had created a void.

He also said that two vehicle crime offenders had moved out of the area, following police action, which had served the same purpose.