A NEW crime-mapping website for England and Wales has been launched — but figures reveal that the level of crime across West Devon and East Cornwall is still low with anti-social behaviour the biggest problem.

Up to five million people an hour are logging onto the website http://www.police.uk">www.police.uk which allows them to see the offences reported in their local street by entering a street name or postcode.

The Government says the maps give real facts on crime and anti-social behaviour and make police more accountable.

Figures for Okehampton street-level crime for December 2010 show there were 43 reported crime and anti-social behaviour incidents consisting of one burglary, 30 anti-social behaviour incidents, one vehicle crime, three violent crimes and eight other crimes.

In Tavistock there were 42 incidents for the same period, with 22 anti-social behaviour related, two burglaries, one vehicle crime, three violent crimes and 14 other crimes.

Thirty-four crimes and incidents were reported in Callington and Stoke Climsland consisting of three burglaries, 17 anti-social behaviour, one vehicle crime, five violent crime and eight other crimes.

In Calstock and Gunnislake there was a total of ten incidents, seven of which were anti-social behaviour, one violent crime and two other crimes.

Other crimes are those which do not fit into the above categories, ranging from non-specific thefts such as heating oil, publishing obscene material, to misuse of a telephone exchange.

Sgt Dave Anning at Tavistock emphasised that West Devon was an extremely safe area: 'A good third of our recorded violent crime is purely domestic violence related and as such will never register on most people's radar.

'We are very fortunate in Tavistock — and indeed Okehampton —that the other agencies we work with are very positive. There will be links from our website to many of theirs — like West Devon Borough Council etc.'

He said there were very good initiatives to help deal with anti-social behaviour and engage young people, such as the Dartmoor Challenge walk and partnerships between the police, youth offending teams and parenting support officers.

He added that many of the incidents reported involved no threat to third parties and included neighbour disputes, noisy groups of youngsters and incidents of graffiti.

Sgt Brett Phillips from the neighbourhood police team at Callington said the figures were indicative of the low level of crime in the town and the surrounding areas.

He said: 'In an ideal world there would be zero crime and no anti-social behaviour, but the figures do illustrate how low the number of incidents of crime in Callington and the surrounding area actually are.

'I think the public need to view the figures with a degree of caution. A large number of crimes in this area are committed by known parties, and a high proportion of violence is often domestic-related. The chance of someone being attacked in the streets of Callington by a complete stranger is, thankfully, very rare.'

Although the figures are very low for the area for the town the size of Callington district, with a population of around 6,000, it could be seen the number of incidents are high in proportion to the larger towns of nearby Tavistock and Okehampton.

However Sgt Phillips added: 'I think to make comparisons would be misleading. Tavistock has a completely geographic area with a completely different demographic mix.  

'It is a more affluent area with more readily available services and also has more policing resources on hand.'