Fraud problem for 'safe' Surrey

A number of petrol stations have been targeted by fraudsters

A dramatic rise in fraud and forgery offences in Surrey has been fuelled by chip-and-pin crimes at petrol stations, says the county's police force.

A 34% increase was recorded in 2006/07, while most other police forces saw a fall in fraud and forgery levels.

Proactive policing was cited as a reason for other big rises in recorded violent crime and drug offences.

Police said Surrey remained England's "safest county" with the joint lowest number of crimes per 1,000 people.

The Surrey and West Mercia forces both recorded 69 offences per 1,000 people, compared with a national figure of 101.

Levels of total recorded crime were up for 2006/07, but police chiefs said there were clear reasons for the fraud and forgery, violent crime and drugs figures.

Drug dealers targeted

Nearly 2,500 cheque and credit card fraud offences represented an 88.4% increase from 2005/06.

A Surrey Police spokesman said the high figures were down to direct police action, citing one case in Guildford where a fraud syndicate was broken and about 1,500 offences prosecuted.

He added that Surrey's commuter belt location, with a high level of traffic due to the proximity of the M25, were also reasons for petrol station fraud offences being prevalent.

Penalty Notices for Disorder (PNDs) were introduced in April 2006, and the force said violent crime levels were inflated as a result because Home Office rules meant they were recorded under that category.

And an 18% increase in drug offences was attributed to "increased police activity" against dealers.

'Robust' action

Sexual offences, burglary and racially-aggravated crimes all fell across Surrey in 2006/07.

Figures showed the "worry about crime" among Surrey residents was below the national average.

Chief Constable Bob Quick said: "I am delighted that Surrey remains the safest county in England, with the lowest rate of violent crime.

"We will continue to be robust in issuing PNDs - even though this increases our violent crime figure."