VIOLENT crime in Buckinghamshire has increased by more than ten per cent, according to new police figures.

A report published last week revealed that the number of reported violent crimes in Buckinghamshire increased by 10.2 per cent from April 2004 to March 2005.

However, police say that the majority of this rise can be explained by the implementation of National Crime Recording Standards (NCRS).

NCRS mean that all reports of incidents coming to the attention of the police, whe-ther crime-related or not, result in the registration of an incident report.

This suggests that the increase is due to changes in recording and policing practices.

Chief superintendent Simon Chesterman, Buckinghamsh-ire Basic Command Unit (BCU) commander, said: "Many of these violent crimes are sadly committed by offenders known to the victim, including incidents of domestic violence.

"We continue to work very hard to encourage such vulnerable victims to come forward and the fact that such offences have risen is in an indicator of the increased confidence of victims to report violent crime to the authorities. "

But despite the increase in reported violent crime, the report also revealed that on the whole, crime in Buckinghamshire has reduced by 8.2 per cent.

This equates to 3,356 fewer crimes than last year and makes Buckinghamshire one of the safest places in the country.

Chief Supt Chesterman said: "In comparison to many other areas of the country, Buckinghamshire still has relatively low crime levels.

"Officers and staff across the county are doing an excellent job in tackling and detecting crime."

According to the report, significant reductions have occurred in a number of key crime areas: robberies went down by 22.4 per cent, dwelling burglaries went down by 12 per cent and vehicle crime went down by 19 per cent.

Detection rates have also improved from 22.7 per cent to 24.3 per cent.

Chief Supt Chesterman said: "Although these end of year figures show excellent results in terms of a fall in crime and rise in detections there is still much work to be done and we are always looking at ways in which to improve our service.

"It is only with the help of our communities and partners that we can continue to tackle those who commit and profit from crime in Buckinghamshire effectively and by working together we can make next year's results even better."

Overall, crime in the Thames Valley has fallen by 2.4 per cent.