LATEST figures show car crimes in Gwent have fallen from 1,000 in April this year to 688 last month.

But while this is a substantial drop, Gwent Police say they are still only down to the levels of vehicle crime experienced this time last year.

Speaking after the release of the latest statistics, Deputy Chief Constable Bryan Davies said: "While I am pleased with the progress being made to tackle this problem with our partners, vehicle crime in Gwent is still far too high."

He said Gwent Police are now trying to get the figures down even more, particularly over the Christmas period, which has historically brought greater challenges for the police. While you place your Christmas shopping in the back of your car, thieves who cause hundreds of pounds' worth of damage breaking in are looking out for rich pickings. Crime figures tend to rise.

Operation Maple was launched by Gwent Police on August 1 this year in response to a vast rise in car crime in April and May. It is now likely to run into the new year.

And the Argus started its own Car Safe campaign a few days earlier, with key goals including the exposure of car-crime hotspots and making car-park owners more accountable for the safety of vehicles on their property.

The latest figures show that the criminals responsible for 33.7 per cent of vehicle thefts and 29.7 per cent of theft from vehicles, in Gwent, have been detected since April.

A spokeswoman for Gwent Police said: "While we are striving for ever-improved rates of detection, this represents some of the highest levels of detection in England and Wales.

"In the year ending April 2003, the average detection rate for thefts of vehicles in England and Wales was 13 per cent, and for thefts from vehicles it was only 6 per cent."

A total of 263 people have been arrested by officers working on Operation Maple initiatives in Gwent.

These initiatives have used a range of policing activity, from targeted high-profile foot patrols and road checks using the Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) systems, to covert patrols in key crime areas and police raids on identified criminals.

The tactic has involved not only arresting persons for vehicle crime offences, but also restricting the criminals' use of the roads.

It was identified early on that to arrest a person suspected of vehicle crime for other offences they are committing - such as disqualified driving or for being wanted by the courts - is just as effective in restricting their offending.

Police officers specifically trained to examine vehicles have been used across Gwent to supplement the existing teams of crime-scene examiners.

The breakdown of arrests so far shows:

* Theft of a motor vehicle, 90. * Theft from a motor vehicle, 47. * Other crimes (burglary etc) 33. * Wanted person, 25. * Disqualified from driving, 34. * Driving under the influence of drink or drugs, 13. * Other, 9.