COMMUNITY policing is pushing down crime in Huncoat according to latest police figures.

Sergeant Bob Eaton, who is in charge of community beats in Accrington, told residents this week that burglaries, juvenile nuisance and damage incidents were all down in the first quarter of the police year.

From the end of March to June 23 this year there were five burglaries compared to eight in the same period last year. Non-house burglaries were down from 10 to five.

There was no change in thefts from cars with 13 this year and last.

PC Rachel Carberry, community beat manager, said: "Ninety nine per cent of thefts from cars is people leaving things in the car like mobiles, laptops and handbags. If you are a car thief that's great."

Car thefts were slightly down from five last year to four this year, with 52 in Accrington.

Two incidents of damage were reported this year against seven last year, but there were no robberies and no major damage.

Juvenile nuisance incidents were down from 23 last year to 15. In Accrington area there were 579.

"That's fairly low compared to Accrington and probably reflects the amount of youth work that goes on in Huncoat," said Sgt Eaton.

"We have spent a great deal of time restructuring the way we are policing. Community policing is re-inventing the wheel to some degree. But my generation is fairly new to it ."