WILTSHIRE has consolidated its position as the safest county in England and Wales as figures just released show that the level of crime fell between April and December compared with the same period the year before.

The latest performance figures for Wiltshire Constabulary were revealed to Wiltshire Police Authority at their meeting in Devizes last Thursday.

They showed that the overall number of crimes recorded for Wiltshire has dropped from 32,095 to 30,370 when compared to the same period last year, a five per cent decrease.

When expressed as crimes per head of population, Wiltshire turns out to have the lowest number of crimes in England and Wales, and therefore it could be interpreted that Wiltshire is the safest county.

In his first meeting with members of the media just before Christmas, the county's new Chief Constable, Martin Richards, said that, according to the latest figures, Wiltshire had taken over the top spot from Sussex after many years as runner up and these figures confirm its position as the most crime-free area of Britain.

The force has reduced levels of crime in seven out of the nine key crime areas. These include burglary, violent crime and vehicle crime. There have been minor increases in drug offences and other notifiable crime.

The overall number of burglaries has gone down by 193 crimes (or ten per cent) with 1,707 burglaries recorded in the first nine months of the year.

When expressed as crimes per household, Wiltshire has the second lowest number of crimes in its group of most similar counties. The current detection rate of 15 per cent is an improvement when compared to the same period last year. There has also been a 14 per cent reduction in non-dwelling burglaries.

The overall number of vehicle crimes 2,768 has gone down by six per cent with 246 fewer crimes having been recorded. Wiltshire has the lowest number of vehicle crimes in its most similar group. The current detection rate of nine per cent is also an improvement on last year's performance.

Violent crime continues to drop with 187 fewer crimes, or a reduction of three per cent, compared to the same period last year. Between April and December 2004, 5,163 crimes were recorded. Wiltshire has the lowest number of violent crimes per 1,000 residents in its most similar group. The current detection rate of 62 per cent is an improvement on last year.

Assistant Chief Constable Peter Vaughan said: "Overall, these most recent figures show that across Wiltshire and Swindon there are 1,700 fewer victims of crime than there were at the same time last year."