ANTI-SOCIAL behaviour made for the bulk of crime reported across central Swindon in November.

Figures collected by the Home Office showed there were 240 reported offences, down from 286 the month before. In total there were 583 crimes overall – compared to 656 in October.

The central area stretches from Lawns Park in the North to the M4 in the south.

Police also received 65 reports of violent crime, 83 classed ‘other theft’ and 60 of criminal damage and arson. Other crimes making up the figures included 47 incidents of shoplifting and 37 vehicle crimes. The worst affected area was in the town centre streets near the train station.

The Home Office re-launched the national crime map last year to tell people how many offences are committed in specific places The scheme branded was ‘Crimebotch’ after it crashed when 18m people an hour tried to log on in 2011.

The database was riddled with inaccuracies – one Portsmouth street with 136 crimes listed had actually had two.

But it was overhauled and relaunched last year.

However officers in Swindon still say it bands crimes together to the nearest point, not necessarily where they took place.

Police.uk is the most popular Government website. The Home Office crime mapping website is at www.police.uk.