BURY has maintained its position as the lowest crime area within Greater Manchester.

Latest figures show a small dip in the number of offences in the 12 months to March.

Although violent crime increased, motor vehicle crime - which accounts for the largest number of incidents - has reduced.

The latest figures for Bury and the ten other divisions within GMP are contained in Chief Constable David Wilmot's annual report.

The 1995-96 statistics show that 17,501 crimes were recorded throughout Bury, a drop of 126, or 0.7 per cent over the previous year.

Incidents of violence against the person went up from 484 to 511 while the number of house burglaries fell by 88 to 3,102. Break-ins, other than those involving homes, also showed a reduction - from 1,955 to 1,838.

Thefts of and from motor vehicles also saw a drop, reflecting the positive results of police operations in tackling the car bandits head on.

Theft of vehicles fell by just three to 2,942 although incidents involving stealing from cars dropped sharply from 2,843 to 2,567, a reduction of 9.7 per cent.

However, what is termed "other crimes" saw a 5.3 per cent increase from 6,210 to 6,541 during the year in focus. Traffic accidents for the same period resulted in eight deaths, two more than the previous year, with 56 serious injuries and 518 people slightly hurt.

Both categories were down as were the number of damage-only accidents which dipped from 623 to 544. Overall, there were 1,126 traffic accidents, a 15.2 per cent fall over the 1994-95 figures.

Commenting on the latest statistics, Bury police divisional commander Snr Supt Chris Wells said: "These figures continue the overall downward trend which we have maintained since 1992. It is fair to say that recorded crime in Bury is still the lowest in Greater Manchester."

On the rise in violence against the person, he said: "There are a proportion of these, for example, involving domestic violence. These are clearly on the increase because people are now coming forward to report that type of offence, which is to be encouraged."

Although welcoming the fall in house burglaries, Snr Supt Wells continued: "I still have a concern about these but obviously the vast proportion of our crime centres around thefts of and from motor vehicles."

He revealed that police operations over the past year had targeted car crime and the positive results were mirrored in the figures.

Looking to the future, Snr Supt Wells concluded: "Our efforts will continue and anything the public can do to help us, either in maintaining the downward trend in crime or to deter more offences, would be extremely beneficial. Over the next year, it will be very much the same."

He said officers would now be concentrating on tackling street robberies throughout the Bury division.

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