Tendring is still one of the safest places to live in Essex, according to new crime figures.

Officers have had major success in reducing house burglaries, but still aim to do better.

Chief Insp Craig Robertson said burglaries were down by ten per cent on last year.

In September, there were 760 crimes across Tendring, just eight per cent of the Essex force total. Some 470 of those were in Clacton.

There were 148 offences against the person out of 1,264 in the county. Of those, 38 were where the victim was caused actual bodily harm, and the division has detected 77 per cent of crimes against the person.

Chief Insp Robertson said the greatest area of concern continued to be criminal damage: "There were 192 incidents out of the 760 crimes last month, which is around one quarter."

He also appealed for motorists to make it harder for car thieves by parking in well-lit places and keeping valuables out of view.

He said a common public complaint was that people did not see enough officers on the streets, but that one of the reasons for that was that intelligence-led policing meant manpower was used to target certain individuals and areas.

By Nigel Brown

Reporter's e-mail: nigel_brown@thisisessex.co.uk

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