Sussex remains one of the safest counties in England and Wales despite upward trends in violence.

That was the view of Sussex Deputy Chief Constable Joe Edwards following the release of latest statistics.

Violent crime nationally rose 11 per cent to 270,000 in the final three months of last year compared with the same period in 2002.

Offences of violence rose 13 per cent to 235,000 in the same period, versus 207,500.

More serious violent crimes such as murder and wounding rose 13 per cent while less serious attacks increased 21 per cent to 106,000.

Mr Edwards said: "Sussex is still a safe place and the likelihood of falling victim to crime is low.

"Burglaries and vehicle crime in Sussex are both down and we are focusing our attention on antisocial behaviour and robbery."

Nationally, sex offences rose six per cent to 12,600 while robberies fell seven per cent to 23,900.

Total recorded crime remained stable at 1,452,600 offences recorded in the three months.

Ministers said much of the increase in violent crime was down to "low-level" thuggery, as they announced a new crackdown on alcohol-fuelled violence.

The rise was also partly due to the continued effect of a change in the way police record crime.

Criminal damage rose ten per cent to 304,600.

The number of house burglaries during the quarter fell by 11 per cent to 98,400, thefts of vehicles or from vehicles dropped ten per cent and other thefts and handling offences dipped one per cent.

In all, property crime fell two per cent to 1,126,500 and drug offences decreased two per cent to 36,800 in the three-month period.

The market research-based British Crime Survey (BCS) reported that violent crime dropped five per cent in the calendar year.