Crime figures have revealed that offences in Huncoat are down by half.
Councillors and residents have welcomed the latest round of police statistics which have revealed that the number of incidents had fallen from more than 400 to 173.
The figure means Huncoat has the fifth lowest offending rate in Hyndburn. Accrington town centre has the highest.
Community support officer for Huncoat, Suzanne Crawford, announced the figures at the Police and Communities Together meeting on Monday, July 27.
PCSO Crawford said: “Over the last two months there were 173 incidents recorded in the ward, out of these incidents 14 were recorded as crimes.
“This is a reduction of about 50 per cent from the previous two months.”
Ward councillor Eamonn Higgins welcomed the reduction and praised police for their work.
He said: “I think the reduction in the crime figures for the ward are very encouraging.
“We meet with the police on a monthly basis to discuss ways of dealing with local policing and also we have two extra part time community support officers who work mostly in the evenings to deal with anti-social behaviour.
“We have two very dedicated members of the police here in Huncoat, PC Paula Birch and PCSO Suzanne Crawford who do a fantastic job.”
Coun Higgins added that the aim was to now reduce figures further.
He said: “By working with local residents, councillors and the police we hope we can maintain and even further reduce these fantastic figures.”
Dave Parkins, former ward councillor and Huncoat resident, said that the reduction in serious crimes was particularly positive.
He said: “The figures are very good.
“Less serious crime was higher for things like being drunk and disorderly but the number of serious crimes like burglary was down.”
He added: “The police do a great job in Huncoat and are always on hand to offer help and advice and listen to residents.
“Considering how much pressure they are under with funding cuts it is great to see that the work they are doing is really paying off.
“Hopefully it will continue.”
