CRIME in Darlington is down, according to Police and Crime Commissioner Ron Hogg.

Mr Hogg – PCC for County Durham and Darlington – briefly discussed crime statistics at a Darlington Borough Council meeting.

Mr Hogg said that – broadly – crime in the town had dropped compared to the same time last year.

He said: “Crime in Darlington is down compared to figures from the same time last year, which is good news and better than forecast.

“Our rate of deduction is well above the national average, crime reduction is good and our victim satisfaction rate is increasing.

“We are raising public confidence in policing and, going from measures used to assess the success of the force, we’ve gone from 72 per cent last year to 76 per cent but we’d always like that to be higher.”

Mr Hogg said the levels of theft from motor vehicles had dropped as had burglaries of sheds and outhouses.

However, burglaries from dwellings have risen slightly and shoplifting offences have gone up by 11 per cent.

He said: “While theft from motor vehicles is down by 11 per cent, we still need to remind people to keep their goods and valuables in their boots and lock their cars.

“One crime of concern is shoplifting, especially this time of year – it’s up by 11 per cent across Darlington and we are currently working with shops in the hope it will have an impact.”

According to Mr Hogg, the festive season will also see extra patrols planned in preparation for Christmas and New Year, as well as more of a focus on domestic abuse, which traditionally sees a spike at this time of year.