FLAMINGO Land is Ryedale's top location for repeat crimes, figures released by the police reveal.

The Kirby Misperton resort saw 49 offences and incidents recorded in the year ending in August. The next highest figure was 19 for an area of Pickering blighted by off-road vehicles.

The resort's chief executive Gordon Gibb said that number should be put into context given the high volume of guests, a point police inspector Andy Short accepted.

Outgoing police inspector Andy Everitt, who has been succeeded by Insp Short, highlighted the statistics in a report to North Yorkshire County Council's Ryedale Area Committee.

He said: "Flamingo Land is Ryedale's top repeat location for offences and incidents with 49 offences recorded in the last 12 months.

"The Pickering community team continue to work closely with security staff and managers to reduce incidents.

"It is fair to say that calls for service have increased since the recent growth in the number of static caravans.

"Insp Andy Short has extensive experience in managing the Filey holiday parks during the summer months and will be using this experience to review security arrangements and encourage new ways in which to reduce the number of incidents occurring at Flamingo Land.

Mr Gibb said: "This is news to us. I was only just speaking to a police officer last week who was praising our team and commenting on how few calls they get.

"I would also like to point out that we have a higher population than Malton and Pickering over the summer holidays and would hope that the incident rate is reported in a balanced way.

"The specific nature of the reported incidents also has to be considered. We have many reported 'stolen' mobile phones which, as you know, is the only way customers can claim insurance back from their insurer."

Elsewhere, Insp Short said there had been 16 incidents at Morrisons in Malton and 15 at Asda in Norton, while "licensed premises" in Malton and Pickering had 13 and 14 call-outs respectively.

Of Flamingo Land, he added: "I can understand that they are trying to defend their position. We would work with them if they thought it is getting out of hand."

Insp Short said parks had also been encouraged to be more proactive in reporting crime, particularly domestic incidents.

"Some of that number at Flamingo Land might be generated by us telling them to ring us," he said.