CRIME in Hyndburn has dropped by almost a quarter in the last three years, according to latest figures.

The number of overall crimes in the area has dropped 22.4 per cent from 5,646 to 4,382 in the last three years, according to British Crime Survey Comparator figures.

They show that crime rates in Hyndburn have dropped steadily each year since 2003/04. The latest figures for 2007/08 also show Hyndburn crime dropped 11.2 per cent compared to 2005/06, which means there were 540 fewer crimes in just one year.

Thefts including crimes such as house burglaries and car crimes have dropped by 14 per cent, while violent crime was down 19.5 per cent and criminal damage offences dropped by over 28 per cent.

The figures were hailed as a credit to the whole area by the Hyndburn Community Safety Partnership (CSP), which includes Lancashire County Council, Hyndburn Borough Council and Lancashire Police, among others.

Chairman of the partnership, Coun Brian Roberts, was delighted with the results.

He said: "This goes to show that working in partnership can have a huge impact. Our target was to reduce crime by 15 per cent over the last three years. By working in a more coordinated way, getting all the various agencies together and focusing activity in our areas of greatest need with initiatives like Neat Streets, we've now smashed that target with a 22.4 per cent reduction.

"These results are a credit to the whole Hyndburn community, and I want to say a big thank you to everyone who has played a part. When taking part in the various initiatives, we felt that people at the heart of our communities really appreciated what we were trying to achieve and welcomed our activities. However we know there is still work to be done and we are aiming to make the next three years just as successful - the CSP is committed to reducing crime and anti-social behaviour to make Hyndburn a safer place to be."

Inspector David Mangan added: "This is fantastic news for the people of Hyndburn and it is extremely reassuring to see that crime is continuing to fall.

"This reduction demonstrates that Hyndburn's streets are safer than ever and more offenders are being brought to justice. We will continue to work closely with our partner agencies to further reduce crime and disorder in Hyndburn."