NEW Home Office figures show a fall in crime in Swindon and across Wiltshire.

And 0.3 per cent of all offences recorded involved knives.

Earlier this month the Advertiser revealed that there were four knife crimes reported in Swindon every week, and that the town's police were called to 215 incidents involving knives last year.

"Here in Swindon we have a very small number of people who chose to carry knives," said Chief Inspector Paul Mills.

"Wiltshire Police takes knife crime extremely seriously and we will act on any intelligence we receive about people carrying knives.

"It is not acceptable that people carry knives or any other weapons and we will deal robustly with anyone found to be doing so.

"We are also working with schools and young people in the town to warn them of the dangers of carrying knives.

"Anyone with information about individuals who regularly carry knives should phone Wiltshire Police on 0845 408 7000."

The new statistics cover the period between April 2007 and March 2008.

The numbers showed overall crime recorded dropped by one per cent, violence against the person fell by six per cent to 12.8 crimes per 1,000 people in the county - the lowest rate in the south west.

Also on the slide were burglaries, which showed that numbers of burglaries dropped by four per cent, meaning 183 fewer offences were recorded, compared to the year before.

Julie Clayton Assistant Chief Constable of Wiltshire Police, said: "Wiltshire Police is aiming high - we want to make this county the safest in the country, particularly in respect of violence.

"We are already the safest county in the south west, but we are not complacent, and will hopefully reduce all crime in Wiltshire.

"These figures show that in key areas such as violence against the person and robbery, we are seeing some impressive reductions when compared to similar forces elsewhere in the country, and we are already building on this record in the first few months of this year.

"The force, since April this year, has been excellent in many areas, with overall crime some 10 per cent lower in the last three months compared to the same period last year.

"Our detection rate has also risen in recent months, with nearly 48 per cent of violent crimes now being detected by officers.

"Not only are we seeing many fewer victims of crime, but also more offenders are being arrested."