The end-of-financial-year crime figures show almost a three per cent drop compared with last year – the fifth consecutive annual fall.

Sgt Mike Moorhouse, a safer neighbourhoods sergeant for the Scarborough area, said: “Last year alone there were 162 fewer victims of crime in the Scarborough area and over one in three crimes were detected which compares well to other forces.

“However, there is no room for complacency and it is vital that the public continues to work with the police and our partner agencies to tackle the issues that affect their quality of life.”

Deputy Chief Constable Adam Briggs welcomed the news and agreed there was no room for complacency in the bid to cut crime even further.

He said: “This latest fall in crime is a tribute to the hard work of our officers and staff. It is great news for the police and our partners but most of all for the people of North Yorkshire.

“It’s remarkable to think that in the past 12 months there were well over 22,000 fewer victims of crime in North Yorkshire than just five years ago.

“The introduction of Safer Neighbourhoods teams has definitely had an impact. The public want police officers on the streets, not stuck behind desks, and that is what we have targeted our resources towards.”

Figures show that in the year leading up to the end of March, there were a total of 48,769 crimes across the force area.

Electronic records, which go back to 1995, show that only one other year recorded fewer than 50,000 crimes – April 1997 to March 1998 when the total was 48,068 crimes – and the highest total was 71,467 for the year between April 2003 and March 2004.

As previously reported there were a total of 4,201 reported crimes committed in Scarborough last year compared with 4,510 in 2007 – a drop of 309.

However, the figures showed there were 41 more incidents of criminal damage and 61 more burglaries of homes last year compared with 2007.

DCC Briggs said: “Every community now has the name and number of their local officer and access to crime maps showing exactly what is going on in their areas.

“Of course there is still more that can be done and we have a number of initiatives lined up for the coming months to ensure we continue to make life as difficult as possible for criminals and those responsible for anti-social behaviour.”