COMMUNITY leaders in Blackpool are calling for the fear of crime and offences affecting the young and vulnerable to be included in a crime clampdown for the next three years.

The town's Community Safety Partnership met last week to consider progress since the launch of the resort's first strategy to combat crime and disorder in 1999 and to discuss the way ahead.

Partnership chairman Chief Supt Taylor said: "Our audit illustrates that the crime rate in Blackpool is significantly higher than in both Lancashire and England and Wales as a whole, and so crime in Blackpool is obviously a serious problem that needs to be tackled.

"Most of this crime is concentrated in Blackpool's inner wards, particularly the town centre, and there is a clear link between levels of social deprivation and specific categories of crime and disorder within ward areas.

"The hard work of the Community Safety Partnership will provide an excellent foundation for the next three years, but the community needs to recognise that fighting crime is not a battle agencies can win on their own.

"The Partnership can only succeed with the support of the public and everyone needs to play their part in making Blackpool a safer place for us all."

The Partnership -- an umbrella organisation for a number of statutory, voluntary and business groups led by the council and the police -- is pleased that there has been a reduction in car crime in the town centre and numbers killed and injured on the roads of Blackpool.

But the Partnership has expressed disappointment that some categories of crime, particularly criminal damage, have risen during the same period and recognised that some figures are distorted because of significant changes to recording methods.

Priority issues include disorder and damage in the town centre, burglaries, violent crime, vehicle crime, fear of crime, substance misuse and vulnerable groups ranging from the gay community to asylum seekers.

The public will be asked to comment on these draft priorities as part of a major programme of consultation in the autumn prior to the new strategy being finalised.