CRIME in Ipswich fell by 2.3per cent last year, according to police figures released today.

There were 13,815 recorded crimes in 2009/10 compared to 13,497 in 2010/11.

Set against a backdrop of a .2pc reduction across Suffolk, the decrease in Ipswich provides a promising snapshot.

Although Suffolk Constabulary’s financial cutbacks make life more challenging, Superintendent David Skevington, head of policing for Ipswich, is cautiously optimistic about the downward trend.

He said: “On the whole I’m really pleased with how last year finished. However, we have got to avoid being complacent.”

Anti-social behaviour was down by 14 pc year on year from 6,345 incidents in 09/10 to 5,446 in 10/11.

Supt Skevington said: “The pleasing thing is last year we reduced anti-social behaviour by 15pc. The encouraging thing is that there is still a willingness for people to report anti-social behaviour. That is encouraging because we still need to know what is going on and how we can work with people to solve problems.”

Police believe a number of strategies have proved successful in curbing anti-social behaviour, particularly citing the work being done with various partner organisations.

Burglaries have dropped year-on-year by 6pc from 542 to 511 offences.

Supt Skevington said: “To have 31 less houses burgled in Ipswich is a real positive and that is the biggest reduction across the seven districts in Suffolk.”

A counterbalance to the successes, are the figures for robberies which are up by 26pc. In 09/10 there were 117, while in 10/11 the figure rose to 147.

Supt Skevington said: “It’s very hard to know what to attribute the rise to, but we have got to make sure we keep the emphasis on crime reduction. Awareness is important.

“Victims of robbery are mainly aged between 18 and 24 and are often walking home alone using mobile phones that are snatched from them.”

Theft from vehicles has also seen a substantial rise with 25pc more offences being reported. Last year there were 1,235 offences compared to 990 in 09/10.

Violence against the person reduced by 9pc from 1,424 in 09/10 offences to 1,296 in 10/11

Serious violence in a public place has seen a drop of 15pc from 452 offences to 382

Domestic violence has also dropped by 6pc with 811 offences in 10/11 compared to 867 the previous year.

Sex offences are down by 19pc from 251 in 09/10 to 203 in 10/11

Emergency response officers achieved their 15-minute target time for 999 calls on 90.6pc of occasions.

Detection rates have risen to 37.3pc from 36.4pc in 09/10