MUCH will undoubtedly be made politically over yesterday’s release of crime figures which show a fall across England and Wales.

Across the country there was a significant fall in the numbers of violent attacks, robbery, burglary and fraud.

The total number of offences year on year fell by 7% up to December 2009.

Crime was also down across Wales as a whole.

Unfortunately in Gwent the picture is not so rosy and we have experienced an overall rise in crime of 5.5 per cent.

Worryingly, the burglary rate in the Gwent Police force area rose by a quite staggering 31.6 per cent last year over 2008 and pushing it to a level on a par with London.

Overall crime was down across Wales but there were 13 burglaries per 1,000 people in Gwent, equalling the numbers seen in the capital.

These figures are obviously worrying.

The force says the burglary rise was during a difficult economic period and that burglaries have now stabilised.

We are certain Gwent Police chiefs will be as worried as our readers over why burglary figures have recorded such a leap.

Praise must go where it’s due and we note the fall in drug offences and violence against the person.

Our hope is that the release of the figures will highlight areas of concern and enable the force to focus on those areas which clearly need attention.

This is not a political issue. This is about ensuring the safety of the public and on that we all have our part to play.