Burglary in Leeds has dropped dramatically, according to figures released today by Safer Leeds.

There were 816 fewer burglaries in the city in the six months to May 2010 compared with the same period the year before – a drop of 16 per cent.

The fall follows a city-wide drive by Leeds City Council and West Yorkshire Police to target offenders and improve home security.  

The approach involved analysing intelligence reports to identify burglary hotspots, and protect vulnerable victims as well as improved information-sharing across the city. The reports identified prolific offenders and locations of concern and targeted programmes were set up to focus on these.

Police also successfully closed off a number of outlets for stolen goods, which is also believed to have contributed to the fall.

The news has been hailed as a breakthrough by representatives of Safer Leeds, the city’s Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership after years of rising burglary levels in the city.

Cllr Peter Gruen, Leeds City Council’s executive member for Community Safety, said:

“These figures show a huge turnaround in burglary levels in the city in a relatively short time. They show what can be achieved  by good partnership working and by targeting our work to identify the places and the people that need the most help.