CRIME in Bordon and its surrounding villages has dropped by 7.7 per cent from 1,464 to 1,351 crimes, new police figures have shown.

The figures recording the number of crimes reported between April 1, 2001, and March 31, 2002, show that 113 fewer crimes occurred in the last year compared to the previous 12 months.

However, a string of armed robberies has pushed up the number of robberies by 150 per cent and violent crime has increased by 19.2 per cent.

Whitehill police officers cover Bordon and a number of villages including Headley, Liphook, Lindford, Grayshott and Greatham, and over the past year they have seen a large reduction of the number of non-residential burglaries on their patch.

The figure has reduced by 32.9 per cent from 149 to 100 burglaries of shops, sheds, outbuildings and other non-residential properties in the past 12 months.

Whitehill police have also been successful in reducing the number of house burglaries from 76 to 56 (26.3 per cent).

Vehicle crime is also another success story - reduced by 27.9 per cent from 190 incidents to 137.

Sergeant Howard Lovegrove said that local people were taking better care of their property and were listening to police advice on how to reduce crime.

ÒObviously people have taken heed of the crime prevention advice that we put out,Ó he said.

ÒSchemes such as Neighbourhood Watch help and if there are any volunteers out there who are willing to offer their services and be a Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinator, then we would be interested to hear from them.Ó

However, while celebrating this news, officers are concerned that, in line with the national trend, violent crime has increased from 234 to 279 incidents - an increase of 19.2 per cent.

ÒThis is obviously something we are worried about and would like to reduce this trend,Ó Sgt Lovegrove said.

Robbery is also on the increase with a rise of 150 per cent but in real terms the rise is very small.

Over the past 12 months there have been ten robberies, which include a string of armed robberies in the area involving staff being threatened by weapons and guns. Police believe they were all carried out by the same group of people.

This compares with last yearÕs figure of four robberies in 12 months.

Sgt Lovegrove said: ÒIn total, there were six robberies which we believe the group was responsible for and they are the reason for the large rise.

ÒIf we ignore those incidents, then there were only four robberies in the year - the same number as the previous year.

ÒRobberies are very rare in this area.Ó

Crime figures for the whole of Hampshire are not being released until August.