Hotspots for crime in East Lancashire

The newly-launched website www.police.uk is the first of its kind to show such detailed statistics.

According to overviews of Blackburn and Burnley town centre, there were 322 and 353 crimes respectively in December 2010.

But smaller towns and villages also had their fair share of incidents with anti-social behaviour, robbery, burglary, violent crime, vehicle crime, and ‘other’ offences all being recorded.

Blackburn

In Blackburn, Darwen Street came out top with 35 crimes in December, including 22 anti-social behaviour incidents and five violent crimes.

High up on the list were Clayton Street, with 29, Northgate with 24, Railway Road and Mincing Lane, with 23 each, Ainsworth Street, with 21, and King William Street, with 20.

Mark Aspin, Blackburn with Darwen Community Safety Partnership manager, said the highest levels of crime are often found in the most deprived areas and that the authorities were ‘happy for the public to questions us on crime figures in their street’.

He said: “Right across Blackburn with Darwen all crime is down 2per cent.

“However, we are starting to see a rise in burglary and vehicle crime in the last few months, but are doing the best with the resources we have.

“This allows us to compare figures and focus our resources.”

He said the ‘main drawback’ was that the ‘context’ of each crime was not given.

He said: “Smashing into someone’s front room and taking all their property is not the same as breaking a panel in a disused building – but both are classed as burglaries.”

Mr Aspin said Blackburn with Darwen compared favourably with other regional authorities and said a big positive for the site was it encouraged community involvement.

Burnley

Burnley town centre had the worst figures in December, with Hammerton Street (29), St James’ Street (28), and Parker Lane (26), the top three.

Hammerton Street had 12 violent crimes recorded – the worst in East Lancashire, with the majority of the other incidents being anti-social behaviour.

Jeff Brunton, senior minister in charge of the Street Pastor scheme in Burnley town centre, said he had noticed Burnley town centre was quieter in December than the previous year.

He said: “Our picture would be of an improving situation, not a deteriorating one.

"You would expect those streets to come up because it is where everyone is on a Friday and Saturday night.

"I’m not surprised by it, but it doesn’t sound that bad. "It could be a useful tool to show those areas which can be targeted.

“My concern would be that some communities will be labelled not very nice places to live, but you need to talk to the people who live there.

"Figures are a bit simplistic frankly. Sometimes figures don’t tell the whole story.”

Darwen

In Darwen, the worst street was Market Street, with 14 offences in December, including nine involving anti-social behaviour, and three violent crimes. The next were South Street with a total of 11 crimes, and Victoria Street with 10.

Adam Hulme who runs the Bridgewater pub in nearby Church Street and is the chairman of the Darwen BarU scheme, said: “I’ve heard of some examples of pubs wrongly featuring on streets, but I think once the system settles down and we can properly understand the information, it will be a fantastic tool.

“We get around 3,000 people through the door on a weekend and aren’t scared of reporting things to the police.

“What I don’t want is for these figures to be misconstrued and people think it is a hive of crime. That’s the danger.

“We’ve seen 75 per cent reductions in violent crime in Darwen over the last two years – does the site back that up?

“It may be helpful to use this data for BarU meetings to set targets.

“Eventually it will be a great tool.”

Hyndburn

In Hyndburn, Blackburn Road, Accrington, was the worst street, with 19 crimes, including four violent crimes in a month.

Close behind were Eagle Street, Accrington, with 12, and Burnley Road, Accrington, with 11.

Both Commercial Road, Great Harwood, and Spring Street, Rishton, were the worst in their areas, with seven crimes each.

Ward councillor for Rishton, Ken Moss, lives close to Spring Street.

He said: “The number of people trying to use the site shows how useful people think it is.

“It is a good opportunity for people to see how valuable the police are. I’m all in favour.

“Spring Street and the surrounding area has a problem with anti-social behaviour and drugs, but they have both been reduced over the past two years.”

No crimes, however, were reported in Altham.

Pendle

In Nelson, Cross Street and Stanley Street both recorded 20 incidents apiece, including violent crimes, vehicle crime and anti-social behaviour.

Next was Pine Street, Nelson, with 14 crimes.

Market Street is the worst for in the Colne for crime according to the site, with 16 incidents, including 14 of anti-social behaviour. Skelton Street had 13 crimes.

David Whipp, chairman of the Community Safety Partnership, said: “I think it’s great that people have got ready access to details of crimes and anti-social activities in their area.

“As far as Pendle is concerned, this confirms it is a relatively low crime area and generally people can be reassured that the area they live in is relatively safe.

"Having said that, a single crime is all-consuming to the victim.

“I don’t think there are any surprises in the information made public.

"We have always analysed very carefully patterns of criminal behaviour to address issues where they occur.

“Openness, transparency and easy access to information is to be welcomed. The positives outweigh any negatives.”

Pendle MP Andrew Stephenson said the website was extremely useful for residents.

He said: “This means everyone can see exactly what crime is happening and where, right down to the level of their street corner.

"If anyone has concerns about the crime they see or how issues are dealt with, they can raise them with the police.

“By providing crime data in an open format that anyone can access, even from their mobile, we can all hold the police to account.

"We can ensure they deal with the issues that actually matter to us locally not those decided by someone hundreds of miles away”.

Ribble Valley

In the Ribble Valley, Moor Lane, in Clitheroe, suffered 13 crimes, which included 10 incidents of anti-social behaviour, one burglary and two ‘other’.

Sgt Graham Marshall, of Longridge Police, said: “Certainly I think they’re very useful to the public, and the website will assist people giving us information on what’s happening in the community.

“Anti-social behaviour can be anything from a neighbourhood problem to sheep straying on the road – which we do get in Longridge.

"In the past four to five weeks, cars abandoned in horrendous weather have been logged as nuisance incidents of ASB.”

Rossendale

In Rawtenstall, Ormerod Street suffered 12 crimes, with three anti-social behaviour incidents, one violent crime and eight ‘other’.

Mount Terrace was almost as bad, with 10 crimes, including two violent offences.

Fairfield Avenue, in Waterfoot, had nine crimes, and King Street, in Bacup, had 10.

Rossendale Council leader Tony Swain wasn’t surprised at the figures.

He said: “Whether it is useful or not depends on how many hits it gets going forward. Only when it shows figures over a longer period of time, will it be useful to paint a picture of an area. At the moment, one major icident shown in December could be the only incident for a whole year.”

In Haslingden, 95 crimes were reported and almost half, 45, were anti-social behaviour offences.

Of those, incidents were reported in King Street, Church Street, and Deardengate.