THE Home Office statistics make unforgiving reading for Notts Police, with only Greater Manchester Police and London's Metropolitan Police worse for recorded crime.

With 109 offences per 1,000 people between April last year and this March, Notts continues to hover at the bottom of the national figures.

It has by far the highest crime rates in the East Midlands, and is higher than similar core cities like Bristol, Leeds, Sheffield and Newcastle.

There is room for optimism though. There were nearly 10,000 fewer victims of crime in 2008-09 than the previous 12 months, as the force recorded reductions in burglary, violence, vehicle crime and criminal damage.

Howard Roberts, Notts Police's deputy chief constable, says the public should concentrate on the recent improvements – and argues it is unfair to bracket Nottingham with London and Manchester as crime hotspots.

"We do have a high level of crime, but we have made outstanding improvements. The statistics released yesterday also show that in Notts you have a lower than average chance of being a repeat victim of crime.

"These figures go to the end of March, but since then we have made even better progress. In the last three months to the end of June, we have had a 10% reduction in total crime and a 16.6% reduction in burglary, compared to the same 12 months the previous year. "

And he said a rise in robberies was particularly disappointing.

"In contrast to the national picture, the past 12 months has seen a rise in the level of robbery in the county, with 227 more robbery victims across Nottinghamshire.

"To address this situation, we intend to apply even more investigative resources to tackling the robbery rise in an effort to mirror the successes that have been achieved with both burglary and vehicle crime. We are already seeing positive results, with a significant rise in the number of arrests being made for robbery in the city division."

Tackling yobs and antisocial behaviour will also be a priority in the next 12 months.

"The force recognises from its own surveys that antisocial behaviour is a key concern to our communities, and by working closely with our partners we intend to address this issue.

"We will be seeking to distinguish between minor, isolated incidents, such as children playing football in the street, and the more insidious repeat behaviour that causes the most concern to our community.

"We will be addressing this through our neighbourhood policing teams with a greater emphasis on the identification of repeat victims and repeat offenders, and will actively engage with local communities and partners to understand the issues and problem solve in a way that leads to a reduction.

"As a result of our work so far, we saw 953 fewer incidents of antisocial behaviour in 2008/09 compared with 2007/08, or a 1.3% reduction.

"Overall, I'm pleased to see that we are continuing to see crime fall, but would like to reassure the people of Nottinghamshire that we know we cannot afford to become complacent."

The county's MPs say the force's improvements must continue every year.

Nottingham South MP Alan Simpson said: "It is never comfortable to see Notts amongst the worst crime areas in the country, but there are some important silver linings.

"If you look at the crime levels in Notts over the last year they have receded – there have been significant drops in drug offences, burglaries and car crimes.

"It is however still very worrying that we have one of the higher rates of crime against the person and I suppose that means that we have to continue to look at the policing of that.

Broxtowe MP Nick Palmer said: "There has been progress but there is obviously a lot to do. Crime has been coming down but it can never fall fast enough and we certainly can't be complacent.

"Things are getting better though and it's a shame when someone in an area which is relatively peaceful won't go out because they are scared of getting mugged – violent crime is the kind of thing that is contained in some areas.

"There has been an eight per cent drop in overall crime in Notts and that is a greater drop than the national average of five per cent, so we need to encourage that to continue."

And Nottingham North MP Graham Allen said: "The figures for Notts do show a drop in crime and are therefore encouraging.

"The key to maintaining that is working together – that means the police, the council and the various partnerships and, above all, we need to implement early intervention strategies to stop young people getting into crime in the first place."