CRIME is falling in Redbridge – but the number of rapes and vehicle thefts shot up dramatically in 2010, newly released figures show.

Hate crimes in the borough fell sharply last year, while efforts to tackle robberies and burglaries seem to have worked according to the data.

Some of the main points from the 2010 crime figures are:

• There were 90 reported rapes, up from 57 in 2009

• Racist and religious hate crime fell from 236 to 184 last year

• Reports of residential burglaries fell slightly, from 2,668 in 2009 to 2,629

• Robberies of people in the borough fell from 840 to 812

• Motor vehicle crime shot up to 4,617 reported incidents, compared with 3,981

Supt Paige Kimberley said: “The overall figures are very good.

“It has taken some time to get some of these reductions.

“There has been a huge amount of work in Redbridge with regard to robberies and burglaries.

“Much of it has been targeted work and focusing our resources on known offenders.”

Commenting on the rise in reported rapes she said: “We’ve done a lot of work around rape, encouraging people to report.

“I would rather see it being reported so we have the opportunity to identify and arrest offenders.

She urged people to be wary of conmen knocking on doors to find empty homes in the hope of breaking in, as well as suspicious tow trucks used to steal vehicles.

The figures show total crime fell slightly, from 24,064 in 2009, to 23,964 reported offences in Redbridge last year.

There were three murders in 2010, up from one the previous year, while sexual offences other than rape fell from 174 to 148.

Gun crime fell from 70 to 65 in 2010, and domestic crime also fell from 1,345 to 1,208.

Homophobic crime fell dramatically, from 18 reported cases in 2009 to six in 2010.