THE number of violent crimes, Class A drug crimes and firearms offences in Hampshire have all gone up, according to new figures.

The latest round of statistics for the April to September 2004 period was compiled by Hampshire Constabulary as part of a twice-yearly assessment of crime trends.

Now a senior police officer has acknowledged that the latest figures do point to a significant increase in the number of violent crimes recorded - but added this is because the police are encouraging more victims to come forward.

The figures reveal:

an increase of almost 24 per cent in violent crime compared with the same period in 2003, with an annual increase of almost 21 per cent in the number of racial crimes recorded. Compared with the previous six months, violent crime was up by 10 per cent and serious violent assaults by 18 per cent

a 30 per cent increase in the number of reported Class A drug offences compared with the previous six months. There were 18 deaths attributed to the use of Class A drugs

an increase of 47 per cent in the number of sex offences reported compared with the previous six months. The police said this was mainly due to indecent exposure being recorded as a sex offence for the first time

the number of offences where firearms were used increased by more than 10 per cent compared with the previous six months. Air weapons, BB guns and pellet guns were the most common weapons. Armed robberies were down 57 per cent.

Steve Watts (pictured), Assistant Chief Constable (specialist operations) of Hampshire police, said: "There was a significant increase in recorded incidents of violent crime.

"This is largely due to the continued effects of the introduction of the new national crime recording standards and the more proactive approach the force is taking in encouraging the reporting of incidents.

"As part of our Safer Streets campaign, we have been working particularly hard to encourage victims of hate crimes, such as homophobic and racist incidents, to come forward."

He added that many of the violent incidents were drink-related and said the police were using powers such as on-the-spot fines to tackle this.

There was better news when it came to house burglaries. There were 2,794 of these over the April to September 2004 period - 27 per cent lower than the same period in 2003. This puts the police on course for the lowest burglary rate for 30 years.

Figures for late 2004 and early 2005 show vehicle crime to be at its lowest level since 1980.

Asst Chief Con Watts said: "This is a significant achievement and represents a lot of hard work, not only by police officers but also by the people of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight who have taken heed of crime reduction advice."