THE burglary rate in Gwent was the same as in London last year, according to Home Office figures released yesterday.

The figures showed there were 13 burglaries per 1,000 people in Gwent - the same rate as in London.

This is more than three times higher than in Dyfed-Powys and almost twice the rate in North Wales.

Burglary in the Gwent Police area went up by 32 per cent in 2009 with 7,261 crimes recorded in 2009 according to the British Crime Survey which interviews residents and victims of crime.

This was an increase from the 5,517 burglaries the previous year, meaning 674 more house burglaries and 1,077 more burglaries in other types of buildings like shops and factories.

With a total of 51,248 crimes in Gwent last year, compared to 48,576 reported in 2008, crime in Gwent increased by 5.5 per cent.

This is despite overall crime falling in England and Wales by seven per cent.

The Gwent force had an increase in robberies by 23.6 percent in 2009 compared to the year before with the number of recorded robberies increasing from 212 to 262.

All other types of crime increased by less than eight per cent.

For example, there were more than 500 extra incidents of offences against vehicles and other types of theft offences compared to 2008.

Fraud and forgery, criminal damage and sexual offences each increased by less than three percent with 1,563 recordings of fraud and forgery last year and 591 sexual offences.

Despite criminal damage only increasing by 1.6 percent last year, there was still more than 12,000 cases recorded in 2009.

Two areas of crime did however go down.

Violent crime, with and without injuring someone, went down by less than four percent and drug offences went down by almost 12 percent.

Assistant Chief Constable Jeff Farrar from Gwent Police said there had been significant reductions in crime over the last three years during a period of restructure with the force finding a saving of £7.5 million this year alone.

He said the introduction of more resources on the front line has increased public confidence which accounted for a “significant” number of reports.

He said there has been a 4.1 per cent decrease in total crime for January to March this year compared to the same period last year.

He said the latest figures show a 21 per cent decrease in violent crime and put this down to the targeting of anti-social behaviour.

He listed initiatives which have been developed to tackle the problem of burglary such as working with the National Police Improvement Agency and referred to Operation Conifer II and Operation Drafted which he said led to significant arrests.

The Assistant Chief Constable said levels of burglary have now stabilised and started to reduce.

'I feel very angry about this' - OAP victim

NEWPORT pensioner Vivienne Verren said she believes the increase in burglaries is down to a lack of serious punishment to deter criminals.

Mrs Verren, 72, has been left feeling unsafe in her Ringland home after thieves broke into her house on April 8 and stole more than £1,000 worth of jewellery.

The stolen jewellery included signet rings belonging to Mrs Verren’s late husband Brian, her mother’s eternity ring, and her father’s war medals.

Several weeks on, Mrs Verren said she is still frightened.

“If I hear a noise in the house I’m worried,” she said. “I used to cook with my back door open, now I have it locked at all times. It’s not fair that I should have to live this way.”

Mrs Verren said she thought the best way to tackle the problem would be to give criminals a serious deterrent.

She added: “I know they say there’s not enough room to keep locking people up, but without that the punishment does not fit the crime. I really feel very angry about this at the moment.”

Figured for the Gwent Police force area

Year 2009 2008 Change (%) Total 51248 48576 5.5 Type of crime Violence against the person 9392 9603 -2.2 Violence against the person with injury 5667 5873 -3.5 Violence against the person without injury 3725 3763 -0.1 Sexual offences 591 581 1.72 Robbery 262 212 23.6 Burglary 7261 5517 31.6 Burglary in a dwelling 3007 2333 28.9 Burglary in a building other than a dwelling 4254 3177 33.9 Offences against vehicles 7809 7257 7.6 Other theft offences 9529 8981 6.1 Fraud and forgery 1563 1519 2.9 Criminal damage 12149 11958 1.6 Drug offences 2076 2356 -11.9 Other offences 616 582 5.8