CALNE'S crime rate has continued to fall overall with dramatic reductions in violent crime and burglaries in the last two months.

In a report to Calne Town Council, Sergeant Nic Shorten, of Calne police station, attributed the latest drop in crimes to a combination of factors, including the arrest of individuals with a prolific record in certain crimes.

This was indicated in the fall in the number of house burglaries in the town, which has almost halved compared to the same period last year, following the arrest of one man who Sgt Shorten said was responsible for the majority of offences.

Violent crime has also halved and in the majority of cases the injured party knew the offender.

Sgt Nic Shorten said: "It's encouraging that we're seeing a dramatic fall in core strand offences, like house burglaries and theft. But we are still concerned about the number of cases of wanton vandalism in Calne."

Coun John Watkins said: "The police have been saying for a long time that the crime figures are going down and it's very, very good news.

"It's been a long-term project to get the numbers down so it's very pleasing, but the fear of crime still looms large and we need to get across the message that crime rates in Calne are falling.

"There are a lot of extra services available now for people with drug problems in Calne, including Reachout and the Bath Area Drugs Advisory Service.

"The majority of petty crime and burglaries is drug related and if we can tackle unemployment, drug abuse, social deprivation and education we can try and turn this around. It's not just a case of locking people up."

Calne police's confiscation of 214 cannabis plants in a drugs farm in Broken Cross, the largest seizure of its kind discovered in Wiltshire this year, was one of the highlights of the report.

But Sgt Shorten was disappointed with the 45 offences of vandalism, because of their demoralising effect on townspeople.

He said some of the offences could be attributed to youngsters but most were a result of drunken behaviour in the town centre, which police are hoping to crackdown on in the coming weeks.

Sgt Shorten is also planning to realign police beat boundaries to match the town's political wards in October.

He believes this will make it easier for town councillors to identify police officers, familiar with the issues in their ward, and help build a close working relationship with the community.