A CRACKDOWN by police and publicans on alcohol-fuelled violence is being credited for the 30 per cent reduction in violent crime reported in West Devon this year.

The figures buck a national trend that has seen one of the sharpest ever rises (16 per cent) in violent crime, attributed largely to relatively affluent young men getting involved in late night fights.

West Devon's figures are better even than for the whole of Devon and Cornwall, where violent crime has risen 2.6 per cent.

'It's quite a remarkable achievement,' said West Devon crime reduction officer sgt Gary Neeves. 'We've also seen a reduction in other areas, but that pleases us most.'

Sgt Neeves attributed the success to the Community Safety Partnership that brought the police and licensees together to tackle the problem and high profile policing after 'last orders'.

But he said he was aware that not all violent crimes were being reported and encouraged people to report any incident to provide a truer picture.

West Devon's figures also showed a reduction in domestic burglaries of about five per cent.

Last year 101 out of the 17,000 or so properties in the borough were burgled. Police are aiming for a further reduction next year to get the figure below 100.

Theft from vehicles was also down, but interference — often an attempted theft — was up.

Sgt Neeves said they had turned that around in the last few months, though this did not show in the annual figures

It was the same story for joy-riding, which has also become more prevalent over the last 12 months.