POLICE in Northallerton have been praised by councillors after new figures showed that crime in the town has dropped significantly in the past month.

At a meeting of Northallerton Town Council, Inspector Nigel Slater from North Yorkshire Police said that the number of reported crimes in the town between December 14 and January 18 had dropped by 31 per cent.

Overall there were 61 crimes reported to police this month, a drop from 99 the previous month.

Incidents of auto crime, burglary and drug crimes dropped significantly, although Insp Slater acknowledged that there was still a problem of violence.

A total of 27 violent incidents were reported this month, despite the issue being given priority by police.

Insp Slater assured councillors that he would bring in extra police officers to patrol the problem areas on Friday and Saturday nights to crack down on the issue.

He said: "Northallerton is no different to any other town. We have secured more funding to work on the problem, which will see more officers out on the streets when they are needed most."

The police were also praised for their work in cracking down on organised crime gangs that had targeted Northallerton, particularly in relation to purse thefts.

There were no reports of purse thefts in the whole of the month.