CRIME figures in North Yorkshire will almost certainly make a massive jump next year.

The inroads made by the force over the past few years could be wiped out overnight because the way the figures are recorded is about to change.

York police chiefs fear the rise could undermine the gains they have made in slashing the crime rate because the Home Office is changing the way crime figures are recorded to get rid of so-called ambiguities.

Currently, if a rugby clubhouse changing room was broken into and 15 wallets were stolen it would be logged as one crime.

From April under the new rules 15 offences would be recorded.

Chief Inspector Gary Barnett, head of operations with York police said: "Changes in the way crime is recorded will mean an increase in our figures, but the community should be aware that the division is still being very successful in the fight against crime.

"We are very worried that people's fear of crime will go up because a huge number of offences appear overnight but nothing of the sort will have happened.

"The system is being changed to be based upon the number of complainants, but I would like to reassure people that whatever the figures say in the future we will be working extremely hard to make sure that the real rate of crime keeps on falling.

"As far as we are concerned we cannot see the purpose of changing the way things are done. We think the current system gives the public a very good view of what is going on."

The latest crime figures for North Yorkshire cover the period from April to December last year compared with the same period in 1996.

They reveal crime fell by seven per cent across the county. Included in this is a drop in house burglaries of eight per cent and an increase in the number of burglaries detected, up to 25 per cent.

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