THE impact of crime on people's lives has been measured to provide a league table of the safest places to live in North Yorkshire.

Hambleton has topped the table as the safest area, according to the York Index of Public Safety, devised by economists at the University of York.

The research looked at how likely people in an area were to be affected by six common types of crime, including violence, sexual offences and robbery.

Roger Bowles, deputy director of the Centre For Criminal Justice, Economics and Psychology at the University of York, said the figures clearly reflected the impact of crime.

He said: "This is useful because it tells a slightly different story to official crime statistics. It is more victim- focused and is aimed at assessing how safe we are.

"It reflects a household's point of view and is trying to look on the more positive side by highlighting how likely we are to be safe, rather than being victimised."

York is the least safe area, but experts say the results were affected by the city having the highest concentration of residents and having the largest population in the county.

Ryedale follows Hambleton as the second safest district, closely followed by Richmond and Harrogate.