MORE THAN 130 calls relating to crime and anti-social behaviour over the Hallowe’en weekend were made to Gwent Police this year, an increase on last year's figure.

A total of 133 calls were made between the hours of 5pm on October 31 and 6am on November 1.

This was a rise on calls made last year when 96 calls relating to Hallowe’en incidents were made during the same time period.

The Argus reported yesterday how in one incident, Wendy John, of Burton Road, St Julians, was one of the victims of a Hallowe’en horror after finding flames spreading from her letterbox on Saturday night.

The fire had started after a liquid, believed by police to be an accelerant such as petrol or paraffin, was squirted through the letterbox at around 10pm, dousing junk mail in the wire tray.

The letters caught fire and the flames then spread to the curtains behind the front door and onto the carpet.

Miss John and her boyfriend Paul Middleton managed to put out the blaze with buckets of water before phoning police.

A spokeswoman for Gwent Police said the majority of the calls however were related to incidents of low level disorder such as throwing eggs.

She said: “It is disappointing that a small minority of people chose to behave in this way.

“Police resources were arranged to ensure adequate cover for the night so that the appropriate response could be deployed to deal with incidents across the area.

“Officers also encouraged local residents to contact police if they were concerned about, witnessed or were affected by unacceptable behaviour so that any issues could be addressed and dealt with positively before they had the chance to escalate.”

Anyone with information on the incident in Burton Road is asked to contact Gwent Police on 101 or 01633 838111.