The number of violent crimes in Croydon has dropped by 10 per cent but rapes, robberies and burglaries are on the increase, according to new police figures.

The annual crime figures released by the force show that in the 12 months between April 2005 and March 2006 there were 841 fewer violent crimes committed in the borough, compared with statistics from the previous year.

"The main thing to come out is that violent crime has gone down 10 per cent in the borough which is an achievement," Superintendent Peter Gibbons of Croydon police said.

Fairfield ward, which covers the town centre, has been subjected to several key initiatives to combat levels of crime including Best Bar None and a Think Safe Drink Safe campaign. The area saw a 22.9 per cent decrease in violent crimes.

Chief Inspector David Clayton said: "It is the hot spot in terms of where most of our priority crime takes place.

"That's a significant reduction bearing in mind for the rest of the Metropolitan Police Service there's been an increase in places where there is a big night-time economy."

Gun related crime dropped by three per cent with four less offences being committed in the borough compared with last year and an 11 per cent reduction was seen in the number of domestic violence crimes.

And although there were other positive statistics for Croydon 48 fewer motor vehicle crimes and a 11.6 per cent reduction in race related crimes the borough has seen an increase in the number of rapes, robberies and burglaries.

Twenty-three more cases of rape an increase of almost 26 per cent were dealt with by the borough's police over a 12-month period, despite other sexual crimes dropping by 26 per cent.

Supt Gibbons said the numbers were "relatively low".

The number of robberies increased by 21 per cent to 1,711 with 352 more burglary offences being reported.

Supt Gibbons said his force was concerned about the increases. He added: "Burglary figures are up where in reality it's the third lowest figure in the last nine years. You've got to look in the big scale of things, Croydon has had tremendous success against burglaries in the last 10 years.

"This is an increase and it is not what we would want but looking on a bigger scale, it is still a significant difference from years ago."

Supt Gibbons said changes in the way crimes are recorded had an impact on the statistics.

He also highlighted how the presence of safer neighbourhood teams in the borough and a "strong" uniform presence on the streets has led to more crimes being reported.

"If you put extra officers on the street, you get extra crimes reported to you. At the end of the day we need to know all crimes that take place so that we can base our resources on the real facts rather than partial knowledge.

"Croydon is a safe place to live, work and visit.

"All the partners are working together to make sure we have further reductions in the coming year," Supt Gibbons added.

Type of crime - April 2005 to March 2006 - 2004 to 2005 - Per cent change

Total crimes 34,85935 / 004 / -0.4
Murder 10 / 10 / 0
Violent crimes 7,763 / 8,604 / -9.8
Rape 113 / 90 / +25.6
Other sex crimes 239 / 321 / -6.2
Robbery 1,845 / 1,496 / +23.3
Burglary 3,582 / 3,230 / +10.9
Gun crime 148 / 152 / -2.6
Vehicle crime 4,487 / 4,535 / -1.1
Domestic crime 2,842 / 3,197 / -11.1
Racist crime 420 / 475 / -11.6
Homophobic crime 23 / 32 / -28.1