CRIME in Wiltshire is on the rise as drug-related burglaries and robberies made their mark on the county's annual crime figures.

Recorded crime in the county rose by six per cent from 36,555 to 38,889 offences from April 2001 to March 2002, according to Home Office figures just one per cent lower than the increase in crime nationally.

At a police press conference on Thursday, senior Wiltshire officers attributed the unexpected rise to an increase in organised gangs targeting the county, and an increase in drug-related burglaries. Police believe crack cocaine and heroin has been flooding into the county from dealers targeting Bristol.

Burglaries were up by 792 offences, a rise of 16 per cent, compared with a five per cent increase nationally.

The number of robberies shot up by 46 per cent as the rise in mobile phone-related incidents finally made an impact on results.

Chief Superintendent Gary Chatfield, head of Wiltshire CID, said of the 950 people arrested for burglary and other property crimes, 170 admitted to having a drug addiction, carrying out the crimes to buy heroin, cocaine and ketamine.

Violent crimes increased by 24 offences, equating to a half per cent increase on last year. Crimes of violence against the person went down by two per cent, despite a year of tragic incidents in west Wiltshire.

Sexual offences went up by 14 per cent, with the rape and attempted rape of two women in Melksham boosting the figures.

Offences of criminal damage rose from 7,452 to 8,401, while cases of fraud and forgery fell from 2,200 to 2,088.

Incidents of theft shot up by four per cent, while criminal damage cases went up to 8,401 mainly attributed to cars being damaged at night by vandals.

But despite crime rising in the majority of categories, Wiltshire is still rated the second safest county in Britain, according to Home Office tables.

Detection rates were included in the figures with Wiltshire Constabulary logging above average results.

Officers solved 82 per cent of drug cases and 47 per cent of fraud offences.

While the number of burglaries escalated dramatically, officers solved 15 per cent of cases three per cent higher than the national average.

The force's overall detection rate registered at 30 per cent, seven per cent better than the national figure.

Assistant Chief Constable Stephen Long said the majority of statistics looked worse than they were.

He said: "One of the reasons the percentage increase is so large is because we are starting from a very low level, so any numerical increase will have an impact.

"All we need is two or three people committing a lot of crime and figures go through the roof."