THE streets outside Northampton’s nightclubs and bars are hotbeds of anti social behaviour and violent crime, new figures reveal.
Despite an overall fall in offences in the town, Northamptonshire Police’s online maps show that the crime rate in the town centre is still above the national average.
With more than 13,000 crimes committed last year, Northampton Central is in the top 18 per cent of areas with the most crime – the equivalent of 35 offences every day.
By far the most common type of offence was anti-social behaviour with 5,333 incidents recorded during the year, but this was closely followed by 1,886 violent crimes, which include sex offences, common assault and grievous bodily harm.
But Northamptonshire Police were keen to point out overall improvements.
A spokeswoman said: “We have continued to see reductions in crime as recent figures demonstrate, in particular serious acquisitive crime has continued to improve.
“We have made continued efforts to reduce crime and have achieved positive results due to the hard work carried out under Operation Guardian, Operation Nightsafe and other initiatives we have introduced to make our county much safer.”
She added: “Officers across the county take part in regular high-impact days, involving the execution of warrants and drugs raids and the recovery of drugs and stolen property. This will in part have improved people’s confidence in reporting drugs offences.”
The locations where a person is most likely to be the victim of a crime highlight the influence of alcohol consumption, with 60 crimes committed in or outside nightclubs in just one month, December last year.
Other dangerous areas for crime were car parks, subways, supermarkets and shopping areas, and in the same month a surprising ten incidents were recorded at or around the police station.
The top ten crime-ridden areas in Northampton included the Drapery, Bridge Street and Gold Street – areas which attract revellers on Friday and Saturday nights.
Northampton Borough Council stressed the importance of different organisations working together.
Councillor David Mackintosh, leader of the council, said: “We work closely with Northamptonshire Police to make our town a safe and welcoming place for residents and visitors.”
