Fewer burglaries are being recorded in Wales

They each dropped by 16% in the past year, alongside reduced rates in all recorded crime across Wales.

Police recorded crime figures showed crime was lower in Wales than for England and Wales as a whole.

Violence rates in Wales were described as "towards the top of the range," but they were said to be no more than the average for Wales and England combined.

There was a decrease in the rates of all crime types recorded by the police in Wales Joanna Jordan, acting community safety director, Wales

The figures were in two documents released on Thursday - the British Crime Survey (BCS) and police recorded crime figures.

The police figures show the number of offences recorded by the police, while the BCS figures are reached after questioning people about their actual experience of crime.

According to the BCS, crime in England and Wales fell by 7% in the past 12 months.

Meanwhile, police recorded crime for the two countries showed a fall of 6%.

'Reassurance'

The breakdown indicated Wales had the lowest recorded rates of robbery, theft and handling stolen goods, and the lowest burglary rate along with two regions of England.

Detective Chief Superintendent Ray Wise, of Gwent Police, said: "The public of Gwent should wake up this morning reassured that their police force is one of the top performing in the country.

CRIME IN WALES Wales had 91 offences per 1,000 population Burglary fell by 16% Robbery fell by 16% Theft from vehicles down by 16% Source: Home Office

"The figures show, if you commit crime in Gwent, you are more likely to be caught than in virtually any other county in this country.

"The figures really are a testament to our way of policing. We're community-based and proud of it."

North Wales Police Deputy Chief Constable Clive Wolfendale said his force had the highest detection rate for violent crime in England and Wales at 80%, that burglary in the area fell by 35% last year, robbery was down 24% and vehicle crime had fallen by 30%.

"These aren't figures at the margin, these are quite staggering and we are proud of that performance," he added.

Public perception

Mr Wolfendale also said overall crime figures appeared to be rising because changes in recording practices made three years ago were still having an effect.

He also said his force was recording more domestic violence offences, and the handing out of fixed penalty notices for alcohol-related crimes meant a crime was recorded each time.

Within Wales, the highest crime rates were in the South Wales Police and Gwent force areas.

These two together also suffered car crime rates - theft of and from vehicles - above the average for Wales and England.

But vehicle thefts were significantly below the Wales and England average in both the Dyfed-Powys and North Wales Police areas.

The BCS also asked people about the performance of the police. In Wales and England as a whole, 49% felt their local force did an excellent or good job - figures which were similar in Wales.

But in Dyfed-Powys confidence in the police was noticeably higher.