Crime in Cambridgeshire fell by more than 11 per cent last year, figures released by the Office for National Statistics revealed this week.

For the year ending September 2013, the figures showed that there were 43,910 recorded crimes across the county, down from more than 49,000 in the previous year.

There were big drops in robbery - down 24 per cent to 318 incidents - public order offences – down 29 per cent to 1,192 incidents – and fraud - down 75 per cent to 274 incidents.

There was, however, a significant rise in the number of sexual offences report, with a 21 per cent increase in the last year to 714 incidents.

There was also a small, three per cent rise in drug offences, with 2,839 incidents recorded by officers.

According to the figures, Essex saw the most recorded crime in the East of England last year, with 99,592 incidents. Cambridgeshire came in third place, behind Hertfordshire, which saw 50,632 incidents.

Bedfordshire was the safest county in the East, with just 35,616 incidents.

Cambridgeshire’s Chief Constable, Simon Parr, said: “I am pleased these latest statistics show that crime continues to fall, particularly burglary and robbery as they have such an impact on victims and tend to go up in tough financial times.

“Importantly, it means there were fewer victims of crime. However, the challenge continues and we must remain focused and avoid complacency.”