YORK and North Yorkshire remain safe places to live, despite Home Office statistics which show a sharp rise in violence, police say.

The crime figures released yesterday show that in 2003/04 assaults in York and Selby area rose 33 per cent from 3,291 to 4,396, and robberies went up 27 per cent from 182 to 232.

In the county's eastern division, which includes Ryedale, violent crime rose by 15 per cent to 2,741 and sexual offences by 13 per cent to 174. But robberies fell by 17 per cent to 84.

Over the year, York's Crown Court, which covers both areas, saw a rise in the number of drink-related assault cases by women. It also saw several cases of muggings by drug addicts.

Nationally, the increase in reported violent crime was 12 per cent, with threats to kill up 23 per cent.

Chief Superintendent Tim Madgwick, police commander for York and Selby, said the vast majority of assaults in his area did not produce major injuries, though there were exceptions. People were tending to contact police more about incidents, such as children's fights, than in the past.

Deputy Chief Constable Roger Baker said the force had more officers on the beat than ever before, and, with police community support officers, they were targeting "yobbery" and public misbehaviour. He added that the statistics showed that they were successfully combating crime.

"Every time an officer breaks up a fight, disturbance, or even a jostling match in the street, an addition is made to the total of reported crimes," he said.

"A few years ago a broken tooth or a bruised shin would not have gone into the crime figures. Now they do, and rightly so. It is by recording where, when and how such antisocial behaviour takes place that enables us to be there to nip it in the bud next time.

"The same goes for vandalism. Quite simply, more officers on the street means more eyes and ears to spot such behaviour, and more officers available for concerned members of the public to go to when they come across it."

A North Yorkshire Police spokesman said that its detection rate for all crimes had risen from 28 per cent in 2003/04 to 33 per cent. In 2003/04 71,473 offences were reported to the county's police.

Other crime figures show that in the central division, covering York and Selby, burglaries rose by ten per cent, while in the eastern division they fell by eight per cent.

Car thefts dropped by eight per cent in the eastern division and rose by eight per cent in the central division.

Nationally, offences of wounding, possession of weapons, violence against the person and harassment also increased.

The recorded figures showed a total of 1,109,017 violent offences in 2003-04, up from 991,603 the previous year.

Updated: 10:21 Thursday, July 22, 2004