THE number of crimes recorded in North Yorkshire during the past year has soared by 15 per cent, it was revealed yesterday.

Nearly 60,000 criminal offences were reported to police between April 2001 and March 2002 - compared with 51,500 the previous year.

Burglaries rose by 18 per cent and violent crimes by 15 per cent, while the number of sexual offences committed increased from 289 to 347.

Incidents of theft, criminal damage and robbery have also been on the increase, but senior police chiefs insisted they were expecting the rises.

A recent shake-up, unveiled by the Home Office, means the recording of crime is based simply on victims' reports, rather than the previous practice of officers needing evidence to prove that an offence had actually occurred.

Deputy Chief Constable Peter Walker said police had performed admirably, particularly when faced with several major investigations. He pointed out that the overall rise in crime was matched by other forces in the country.

The total number of crimes detected fell slightly from 15,514 to 15,344. But Mr Walker said: "It is necessary to look behind the statistics. At first glance, our detection rate may appear to be static, but set in context against the almost unprecedented major investigations of last year, it is actually very impressive. Investigations such as the Great Heck rail tragedy, the letter bomb campaign, the Huby murder and the body in the suitcase took up an enormous amount of our detectives' time and were a constant drain on our resources.

"This had to impact on our day-to-day criminal investigations.

"Having said that, it must be remembered that North Yorkshire is still one of the safest counties in the country and we remain committed to maintaining that quality of life for our residents."

The force had successes in tackling drugs-related crime, with detections for trafficking up by 16 per cent and for possession up by seven per cent.