North Yorkshire enjoyed a large drop in reported crimes and a high number of arrests in August, the county's police force claims.

Crime fell by ten per cent during the month compared to the August of 2006 - equating to 473 fewer criminal acts committed. The number of offenders caught and arrested also increased by two per cent, equivalent to 50 further arrests.

North Yorkshire police state that this reduction can be partly attributed to Operation Helical, a "hard-line" road safety campaign that has seen an increased number of road patrols, checks and special operations along the county's 6,000 miles of roads.

This initiative has also been supported by the '95 Alive' road safety campaign.

"These results are excellent news not just for North Yorkshire Police but also for the people of North Yorkshire and the City of York," deputy chief constable Adam Briggs said.

"This is the safest county in the UK and we’re focused on continuously improving our service to make sure it stays that way.

"We work hard all year round to keep reported crime low and arrests high but this summer we've used extra funding and a very targeted approach to tackle the major problem areas and it's clear from the results that this has paid off."

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