LATEST crime figures show Cheddar-based police are winning the battle against crime. Officers say a series of important arrests during the past year have led to a massive decrease in crime in places such as Axbridge, Wedmore and Shipham, as well as Chedda

LATEST crime figures show Cheddar-based police are winning the battle against crime.Officers say a series of important arrests during the past year have led to a massive decrease in crime in places such as Axbridge, Wedmore and Shipham, as well as Cheddar.The number of thefts from motor vehicles has decreased by 45 per cent and non-domestic burglaries have also reduced by the same amount.Assaults, domestic burglaries and sex offences are also down but the number of incidents of harassment and criminal damage have risen.Sgt Simon Bawler says his team of beat officers has managed to arrest several repeat offenders who, in the past, have been responsible for much of the crime.Sgt Bawler said: "A lot of career criminals have been put away. In past years I think they may have distorted the crime figures. For example, you could have one person accounting for 50 per cent of a village's crime."Most of our crime figures are down but there was a recent increase in car crime. After making an arrest we think we may now have stamped that out."There has been a small increase in house burglaries but the figure is very low for an area this size. I think there has only been eight in the past 12 months."There has been an increase in street robberies, but this is criminals from Bristol picking on young children. It is mostly thefts of mobile phones but we have recently made some arrests on this so hopefully it will spell an end to it."The only other anomaly is an increase in harassment, but this is mostly girlfriend-boyfriend disputes and is something quite hard to keep a track on.