CRIME in Lancashire has spiralled out of control under nearly 18-years of Tory rule, Blackburn Labour MP Jack Straw claimed today.

The Shadow Home Secretary said violent crime in the county was up 210 per cent, car crime up 250 per cent and burglary up 310 per cent since 1979.

And Mr Straw, who would head law and order policy under a Labour Government, said the research was backed by an independent National Opinion Poll survey in his Blackburn constituency. The survey found that three-quarters of residents had been victims of crime in the last five years and one-third in 1995 alone.

Today's findings form part of national document, Everyone At Risk, produced by the Labour Party using Home Office statistics for each police force area.

In Lancashire between 1979 and 1985, violence against the person rose from 4,800 to 14,900; thefts of or from a vehicle from 32,600 to 113,200 and home burglaries from 11,700 to 47,600.

Mr Straw said national statistics revealed a four-fold increase in violent crime and that there were three times as many burglaries and double the incidents of car crime. "These figures show the extent to which the Tories have failed on law and order.

"When the Tories came to power in 1979, crime was something that 'happened to someone else'.

"These figures show that today we are all at risk of being a victim of crime. Particularly worrying is the four-fold increase in the chance of being a victim of violent crime.

"Thankfully, the incidence of such crimes is lower than that of car crime and burglary. But the impact of an assault of robbery is the greater.

"What is more, this nationwide increase in violent crime has been accompanied by a drop of 39 per cent in the number of people convicted for such crimes.

"Under the Tories there is much more crime and many more criminals getting away with it."

He said a Labour Government would reform the youth justice system, tackle anti-social and violent behaviour in neighbourhoods, give the police and local authorities new statutory crime prevention duties, reform the Crown Prosecution Service and hold a free vote on handguns and knives.

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