SEASIDE town residents are hoping a crime wave is over.

Police, who said Redcar's Ayton Drive was proving a hot spot for walk-in burglaries, visited every house with crime prevention advice.

With about 100 homes now fitted with alarms and window and door locks, forecasts indicate burglaries in the area should be almost halved over the next 22 months.

Detective Inspector Steve Richards, of Cleveland Police, said: "Each burglary has been costed by the Home Office to a value of £2,300. In simple terms, this initiative is on target to prevent at least four homes from being the subject of a walk-in burglary, saving £9,200. The cost of the whole scheme was less than £3,000 so the savings are obvious."

The scheme was a community partnership initiative.

Det Insp Richards said: "The partnership approach has proved worthwhile in this small community. All households were visited by a uniformed officer at least once, the majority twice, and that was very much appreciated.

"People were given advice and help and that increased confidence in the agencies involved and saw many people turn out to a public meeting to hear about community safety initiatives in the area."

Dave McLuckie, lead councillor with Redcar and Cleveland Council for community safety, said: "This is an excellent example of how the community safety partnership can really work in improving the safety and quality of life for people in the borough.

"An audit highlighted how concerned the public were about burglary. It focused on the walk-in aspect of the crime and pinpointed the terrible heartache caused to residents around Ayton Drive. We have acted on those concerns and hope that will be backed up with a reduction in crime figures."