A credit crunch crimewave appears to have been gripping Sutton, with more than 600 extra offences reported in one year.

New Metropolitan Police figures show that overall crime rose from 13,463 to 14,074 in the 12 months to the end of June.

The 4.5 per cent rise, fuelled by nearly 270 more burglaries, contrasts with a 1.4 per cent drop in offences across the capital.

As unemployment soared in the borough, theft from the person went up by just under five per cent and auto-crime by 5.2 per cent.

There were also 14 more cases of gun enabled crime in the period and another 36 cases of violence against the person, including assault and harassment.

Internal statistics, showing police performance between April and June this year, painted a similarly troublesome picture.

Serious acquisitive crime - covering domestic burglaries, vehicle theft and robberies - rose by 28 per cent, against a reduction target of four per cent.

A report to the Sutton Community and Police Forum said: “Theft from motor crime has increased from 323 offences last year to 523 so far this year.

“This is a real challenge and something we have devised an operational plan to reduce. We are detecting two per cent of crimes against a target of seven per cent.”

The statistics took the gloss off some notable achievements, including a 14 per cent reduction in sex crimes and a seven per cent drop in youth violence.

Antisocial behaviour calls also fell by 16 per cent in 12 months, while Sutton was the fourth highest performing borough for sanctioned detections.

Crime squad officers made six arrests in an intelligence-led operation against knife crime and caught a burglar in Worcester Park, who was jailed for 12 weeks Across the Met, domestic burglaries rose by 1.8 per cent to a total of 60,490, despite a decline in many serious offences.

The figures showed knife crime dropping by 8.2 per cent, youth violence by 8.8 per cent and robberies by 6.2 per cent.

Sutton Borough Commander Guy Ferguson said: “Sutton is one of the safest boroughs in London with one of the lowest levels of crime, which makes any variations in the volumes of crimes - either up or down - appear much more significant.

“Sutton Police officers have focused hard on providing a responsive and thorough approach to offences and to addressing residents’ concerns about crime. This work resulted in significant reductions in the number of violent crimes over the 12 months to March 2009.

“During 2009 we have made addressing residential burglary and motor vehicle crime a continuing priority in Sutton.

"We have been running a major, intelligence-led, uniform and plain-clothes operation across the borough to combat these crimes.

"These operations are resulting in many stop-and-searches, and many arrests.

“The result is that we have had some considerable successes in curbing residential burglaries over the past three months.

"And we are working hard to ensure we reduce the recent increase in thefts from motor vehicles.

"We are tackling burglary and motor vehicle crime in a robust manner and will bring offenders to justice.

“Residents can help us by making sure they lock their cars and not leave valuables on display.

"It’s good advice to check the car door before you leave your vehicle, to make sure the doors are locked.

“In addition, residents can help us, too, by dialling 999 if they see a crime being committed or if they see any suspicious behaviour.”

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