Burglaries soar by 91%

Telford & Wrekin has suffered a 91 per cent rise in the number of domestic burglaries over the past year - by far the biggest jump for the whole West Mercia police area.

The borough has also seen a 21 per cent increase in vehicle crime although robberies and violent crime are down.

Detective Inspector John Elcock, of Telford police, said although he did not dispute the figures, his team had recently achieved big success in tackling many of the town's worst burglars.

The figures are revealed in West Mercia Constabulary's official performance report for April to December 2007.

The foreword to the report highlights West Mercia's success in achieving the overall lowest monthly figures, for December 2007, for several years in both violent crime and vehicle crime.

Domestic burglary is the biggest headache for the force area, with a 17 per cent jump over the previous year.

Telford & Wrekin had 625 burglaries in April to December 2007, compared to 327 the previous year. This is a 91 per cent jump and a rate of 9.5 burglaries per 1,000 households, compared to 5.6 per cent for the whole force area and more than double Shropshire's rate.

Mr Elcock said: "The rise was due to a number of prolific burglars being released from prison last year but we have since dealt with them successfully.

"We are now seeing a substantial reduction in the volume of burglaries and doubled the detection rate."

Shropshire division's worst problem is violent crime, with incidents rising from 2,426 to 2,743, up 13.1 per cent, compared to a slight fall in West Mercia. Telford & Wrekin has seen a 3.9 per cent fall in violent crimes - from 2,431 to 2,335.