ROBBERIES, burglaries, criminal damage and incidents involving vehicles have all reduced in North Yorkshire, new figures showhave revealed.

However, the region has seen 695 more crimes between June 2013 and June this year, 583 more thefts and 125 more sexual offences.

Despite this, the Office of National Statistics’ figures determine the county is still the safest to live, work and visit.

Broken down into the main crime categories, the ONS figures for North Yorkshire show:

• domestic burglaries reduced by 2 per cent (40 fewer incidents, 1,576 in total)

• incidents of criminal damage dropped by 7 per cent (392 fewer incidents, 5,466 in total)

• a 6 per cent reduction in offences against motor vehicles (165 fewer incidents, 2,522 in total)

• there was a 5 per cent increase in theft (583 more incidents, 10,857 in total)

• the number of robberies decreased by 1 per cent (1 fewer incident, 121 in total)

• sexual offences rose by 19 per cent (125 more incidents dealt with, 786 in total) Data for April to September 2014, shows all victim-based crime has fallen by 0.3 per cent, but crimes against society such as drug and public order offences have increased by 18 per cent.