A SENIOR police officer insists Colchester is still safe despite a rise in violent crime and a murder.

Supt Tom Simons admitted there had been an increase in robberies in Colchester but insisted the borough was generally safe at a meeting of Colchester Council’s crime and disorder committee.

He said: “Some of the increase will be down to better reporting of crime and some will be down to more incidents.

“What we can say is there is no link to the night time economy - in Colchester it is really well managed.

“For me it is about a small group of people who are targeting other vulnerable people.

“Generally, that is the issue and is is really important we understand and resolve that.

“Colchester, per head, is a safe place to live and it remains so.”

Earlier this month, police launched a murder investigation after Carl Hopkins, 49, was found dead in Ryegate Road.

Police have charged a teenager - who cannot be named for legal reasons - with murder and the attempted murder of another man in nearby George Street. Mr Simons said violent incidents had been linked to “county lines” drug supplying where illegal substances are brought in from London and flooded into towns such as Colchester.

He said: “My thoughts and the thoughts of everyone at Essex Police go out to the family of Carl Hopkins.

“We have had an individual arrested, charged and remanded which is a positive outcome after the incident.

“We believe it was linked to drug supply and there are some useful leads being broken out of that investigation which are allowing us to put in proactive measures in an initiative called Operation Smuggler looking at county lines.

“But in no way should that detract from the sad events of two weeks ago.”

Safer Colchester Partnership chairman Pam Donnelly added: “Despite all of the concerns, Colchester being unsafe is a myth.

“It is a safe place to live and work.

“We need to deal with the fear of crime.

“A lot of people who don’t experience crime for themselves

but do hear about it and feel worried.”

She praised the work of Team10 - a dedicated partnership between the council and the police working in the town centre - which have issued dozens of enforcement actions to disruptive people drinking on the streets, aggressively begging and acting anti-socially.

She said: “This has been one of the most positive six months periods we have had.

“A lot of hard work has been involved and a lot of that hard work is now coming is now coming to fruition.”