Crime statistics for the North Oxfordshire area

This part of the county has seen a significant drop in the number of burglaries committed both at homes and other buildings, including sheds and farm buildings.

House burglaries were at a force low of just 8.7 per 1,000 population and the detection rates for this crime in the year up to March 2000 stood above the force average at 22 per cent, making it the best in the Thames Valley region.

A police spokesman said: "There was some disappointment that crime in this area went up by eight per cent last year. But that has been offset by figures which show that for the first three months of this year, starting on April 1, they have dropped again by four per cent.

"That was the trend for the previous three years, so it may be something of a blip.

"The number of vehicles stolen was just over 1,000 in the year, which is the same as previous years."

Violent crime rose by 41 per cent. But this was put down mainly to a local campaign to encourage domestic violence victims to report every assault they suffered to the police.

A police spokesman said: "These substantial increases in violence do not necessarily represent a rise in domestic violence."