CRIME in both West Craven and the wider Pendle area is continuing to fall, according to police figures.

At a recent meeting of Pendle Borough Council's West Craven Committee, Sgt Andy Cartwright told councillors that his officers had continued to make progress, despite a recent spate of break-ins at businesses which were believed to be carried out by criminals from outside the area.

He said that, overall, there had been 71 crimes in West Craven last month, compared to 91 in February 2006. Meanwhile, although commercial burglaries, violent crime and car crime were at similar levels, complaints about anti-social behaviour had fallen by 30 per cent to 97 calls.

Sgt Cartwright added that four people had been arrested in connection with the thefts from businesses.

He said that officers had trawled through CCTV footage to find a stolen vehicle which was being used in the crimes and police were still looking to make more arrests.

Meanwhile, Insp John Puttock said targeting known offenders and successful community initiatives had led to a 16 per cent drop in crime across the whole of Pendle. Violent crime was down by 23 per cent, vandalism by 17 per cent and house burglary by 14 per cent. Vehicle crime rose by 2.5 per cent, but Insp Puttock said the increase meant only 12 more offences than last year. Insp Puttock added that Barnolds-wick's alcohol control zone had been one of the factors in cutting anti-social behaviour, which had seen an 8.7 per cent decrease.