THE Ribble Valley has been named the third safest place in the UK — but there has been sharp rise in sexual crimes in Blackburn with Darwen.

Crime figures published by the Home Office showed sexual offences have increased by 39 per cent in the town, from 138 to 192 since last year.

But in the Ribble Valley community chiefs were celebrating after the British Crime Survey figures revealed crime had fallen.

There were 16 crimes for every 1,000 residents for 2009/10, the joint-third lowest in the country with Tynedale in Northumbria.

This is an improvement on 2007/08, when 19 crimes per 1,000 population were recorded, and 2008/09, when the figure was 18.

At that time the Ribble Valley was listed as the fifth safest place in the UK.

In Blackburn with Darwen there were 49 crimes for every 1,000 residents, a drop of 13 per cent on last year.

In Burnley the figure was 58, in Hyndburn 40, Pendle 39 and Rossendale 32.

But overall crime in East Lancashire has fallen with the sharpest drop being recorded in burglary crimes in Burnley, a reduction of 55 per cent.

Inspector Chris Saville, of Lancashire Constabulary, said: “These results are a testimony to the hard work of everyone in the partnership.

“Not only have levels of crime been reduced, but there has been a significant improvement in detection rates. Ribble Valley is now an even safer place in which to live and work.”

Teesdale in Durham and the Isles of Scilly in Devon and Cornwall had the joint lowest crime rates in the country with 13 crimes per 1,000 residents.

The highest crime rate was in the City of Westminster with 96 offences per 1,000 people.

Ribble Valley councillor Jan Alcock, who is the chairman of the Ribble Valley Community Safety Partnership, said: “All the agencies involved in the partnership are to be congratulated for their outstanding commitment to reducing crime in Ribble Valley.

“Thanks to some innovative work on a shoestring the partnership has contributed significantly to crime reduction in the area over recent years.”

No-one was available to comment from Lancashire Constabulary about the rise in sexual offences in Blackburn with Darwen.