LITTLEMORE residents have welcomed a 15.4 per cent reduction in crime and described the area as a “peaceful and nice” place to live.

Total serious acquisitive crime, which includes thefts, robberies and burglaries, dropped by 29.3 per cent – from 58 in 2010/11 to 41 in 2011/12 – and public order offences have fallen from 12 to just three.

Total crime fell from 447 offences to 378.

Although some rates did rise, these were all from a low start point.

Serious sex offences rose from four incidents to five, serious violent crime from one incident to three and shoplifting from 15 incidents to 28.

Littlemore resident Alan Davenport, 38, said: “It is obviously good if crime is going down. What everyone wants at the end of the day is a safer community.

“Littlemore is quite a good place to live. You get older kids in parks with their dogs but on the whole it is fairly trouble-free.”

Littlemore resident Raja Khan, 30, said: “It is brilliant news that the crime rate has fallen and I really appreciate it.

“I have found Littlemore to be a peaceful and a nice area, with no junkies or drug dealers.”

But Rod Elliott, who works at electrical store Elliott and Jordan, said: “I would say Littlemore is not the best of places quite honestly.

“We have had our shop broken into three or four times. They were after cable.

“The police have given us a crime number but nothing ever came of what was taken.”

Oxford city councillor for Littlemore John Tanner said: “The reduction in crime is great news for Littlemore residents.

“The police approach of continuing bearing down on crime and targeting prolific offenders is working well. It underlines the importance of continuing to fund Thames Valley Police properly and not making cuts in front line policing.”

But he added: “I would like to see more residents report crime, and I think the evidence is there that the police will respond if people complain.

Police said no-one was available to comment.

l Constantly updated crime statistics at street-by-street level are available at oxfordmail.co.uk/li