Crime in Sussex is falling but there are worrying increases in violence, according to the latest figures released today.

Recorded crime in England and Wales in the year to March jumped seven per cent but Sussex saw a one per cent reduction to 135,000.

There was a massive drop in burglaries in the county, down 10 per cent to 16,500 incidents, and vehicle crime was cut by 11 per cent to 21,000.

But there was a two per cent rise in violence against the person (17,600) and a one per cent increase in robberies (1,250).

The Home Office said the national rise was inflated by a more meticulous recording system, something Sussex adopted before many other areas.

This made it statistically the worst-performing force in the country for a short period in 2000.

To confuse the picture further, today was the first time the Home Office published findings of a British Crime Survey (BCS) which asked 33,000 people about their experience of crime.

It showed overall crime fell nationally by two per cent.

In Sussex and the rest of the South-East, the BCS figures confirmed violence was on the increase.

The region recorded the highest numbers of street and domestic violence per 10,000 people in the country.

Hugh Marriage, the Government's crime reduction director for the region, criticised hospitals, schools and social services for not sharing information on violence to allow more accurate figures to be recorded.

But he said Sussex Police had improved enormously.

He praised the work of Chief Constable Ken Jones and former acting chief Maria Wallis but said he would be pressing for more action to tackle violence.

He said: "Improvements take a long time to filter through to the figures and public confidence but Sussex has turned the corner."

Mr Marriage released BCS figures for Brighton and Hove: Violence up 4.2 per cent; sex crimes down 3.5 per cent; robberies up 8.5 per cent; burglaries down 20.4 per cent, theft of vehicles down 27.7 per cent and theft from vehicles down 11.9 per cent.

Mr Marriage said he was particularly worried by an increase in "stranger" violence, apparently random attacks on people in pubs and streets. He has asked city police to make tackling the problem a priority.

He was concerned by the increase in robberies and violence but said other towns had fared much worse: Reading's figures were up 17 per cent.

Sussex Police Authority chairman, Councillor David Rogers, said: "Crime is down, Sussex Police numbers are rising and the county is a safer place."

Chief Constable Mr Jones, who was not in charge for most of the period the figures refer to, is reviewing policing.