INCIDENCES of burglaries and car crime have dropped significantly in two areas thanks to new initiatives introduced by a police-led partnership.

Burglaries in Chester-le-Street and Durham City have fallen by 30 per cent over the past two years while car crime has been cut by 40 per cent.

The crime-busting success is thanks to a range of schemes introduced by the Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership, which includes representatives from the police, district and county councils, probation, fire and health services, as well as members of voluntary organisations.

The strategy, which began in 2002, is scheduled to run for a three-year period with a task group targeting both burglary and car crime, which were identified as the main concerns of residents in the two centres.

Security improvements have been carried out to hundreds of vulnerable households in Durham and Chester-le-Street to act as a deterrent to burglars, as well as giving reassurance to previous victims.

Intelligence-led policing has also targeted crime hotspots and offenders, while a partnership between the police and Durham University has provided crime prevention advice to students and seen the distribution of thousands of property marker pens.

Chief Superintendent Der-ek Hall, commander for the north area of the county, which includes both the targeted areas, said: "These figures represent a major reduction in the number of victims.

"While they are welcome news, the fear of crime remains high in our communities and Durham Constabulary's recently launched StreetSafe initiative aims to address that fear by providing a high quality service to the public."

Chris Tunstall, chairman of the community safety partnership, said: "Working together with the public we have made a real improvement to the quality of life for people living and working in the area.''

Highlighting a recent spate of burglaries in which car keys were stolen from properties through letter boxes and then used to steal cars Mr Tunstall said: "We would advise people to put their keys in a safe place, out of sight of the letter box, and report any suspicious activity to the police."