A POLICE chief says the rise in recorded sexual offences in Gwent is the result of initatives to encourage victims to come forward.

He spoke after the release of recorded crime figures for the Gwent region, which showed overall crime down by 4.9 per cent for July - September 2007.

The force said there have been 599 fewer victims when compared to July - September 2006.

But the number of sexual offences rose from 148 to 190, and the number of drug offences and robberies also rose.

Overall, the force says crime has dropped by 11 per cent in the three years to April 2007.

Detective Superintendent Adrian Erasmus said he was happy with the figures.

He said: "We will continue to build on these achievements and work with our partners to make Gwent a safer place.

"The rise in the number of sexual offences, whilst appearing to be a problem, does in fact reflect efforts made to encourage victims of these crimes to come forward and report these offences."

The introduction of the Sexual Assault Referral Centre and specially trained officers was cited as evidence of Gwent's efforts in the area.

The rise in domestic burglaries was a concern, he said, as was the number of offences committed against vulnerable people by criminals deceiving people to enter homes and steal property.

Mr Erasmus added: "A dedicated team has been established to address this problem and has already determined linked offences in other parts of the country indicating the extent of this criminality."

The Home Office said overall recorded crime in England and Wales was down by nine per cent over the same period.

Gun crime rose by four per cent, with 10,182 firearms offences compared with 9,775.

Meanwhile the British Crime Survey - which interviews people across England and Wales about the effect of crime - suggested that the crime rate was stable.

Total Offences         July-Sep 2006-2007 July-Sep 2007-2008 Change (NOT PERCENTAGE) Criminal Damage 3227 3146 -81 Domestic Burglary 556 618 62 Burglary Other 900 826 -74 Drug Offences 473 491 18 Fraud and Forgery 339 226 -113 Other Notifiable Offences 193 174 -19 Other Theft and Handling 2508 2413 -95 Robbery 63 69 6 Sexual Offences 148 190 42 Vehicle Crime 1686 1672 -14 Violence Against Person 3069 2738 -331 FORCE ALL CRIME 13162 12563 -599