CRIME being reported to police in Wrexham has dropped by nearly 14 per cent compared to a year ago.

Reported crime across all three policing divisions in the town was down 13.7 per cent in year-on-year figures for April 2009 and April this year.

Insp Paul Jones, for the Wrexham North police division, said 967 crimes were reported across Wrexham in April 2009. This compares to 835 crimes being reported to police in April this year.

Insp Jones said: “I think it’s a very encouraging start to the year.

“We are working hard to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour and will continue to do so.”

Insp Jones said about a third of reported crime is for criminal damage and another third is violent crime which includes includes assaults and public order offences.

“Serious assaults, sexual offences and burglaries make up a small number,” he said.

“Most are minor things like criminal damage and theft and harassment and shoplifting.

“There is going to be a certain amount of crime unreported and we always try to encourage people to report it.

“If you don’t report it we’ll never know.

“We want to help them.”

Crime across the Eastern Policing Division, which includes Wrexham and Flintshire, fell by 11.8 per cent over the same period.

Former Town Centre Inspector Chris Beasley, who is now a lecturer at Yale College, said: “All reductions of this kind are an excellent result from many years of hard work by a large number of people and partnerships set up to reduce crime.

“This includes police, the local authority and educational services.

“If the reporting of crime is less then chances are it is because people feel more confident.

“People feel they are living in a safer place.

“Crime records for North Wales Police are pretty robust and the crime figures tend to be pretty accurate.”

Mr Beasley spent 38 years in the police force and retired at the end of last year to lecture a BTEC National Diploma in Public Services at Yale.