According to Police Scotland serious crime in West Dunbartonshire has dropped by four per cent while road traffic offences in the area are down by 40.1 per cent in the second quarter of the year.

The latest performance figures also show a 12.7 per cent decrease in the number of domestic abuse incidents reported.

The figures have been presented to the Local Authority for the April 2014 to September 2014 period and show that housebreaking has fallen by 45.3 per cent while crimes of dishonesty dropped by 8.4 per cent. Anti-social behaviour has also decreased by 13.7 per cent.

The Quarterly Report shows there were 94 fewer victims of common assault across West Dunbartonshire as well as there being a 18.2 per cent drop in breach of the peace incidents. Speeding and seat belt offences are down 62.7 per cent and 73.5 per cent respectively and there were 259 fewer incidents of people being caught using their mobile phone behind the wheel.

However, last week The Reporter revealed that outside of Scotland’s four major cities, West Dunbartonshire has the highest rate of crime per head of population.

While the national average sits at 508 crimes recorded per 10,000 people — West Dunbartonshire has 579.

Chief Superintendent, Helen Swan, Divisional Commander for Argyll and West Dunbartonshire said: “I am very encouraged by these results which are testament to the hard work of police officers and staff across the division — but there is still a great deal of work to be done.

“Road safety is one of our top priorities and the reduction of the drink-drive limit will be an additional opportunity to work with our partners to proactively engage with the public to ensure they are all aware of these changes.

“Despite a drop in the number of reported domestic abuse incidents, there was still 583 incidents recorded and it is critical that we continue to work with our partners to support victims and target offenders. Police Scotland has a domestic abuse task force working to tackle this problem at a national level and is also supporting local investigation teams.

“Although I am very pleased to see that housebreaking figures have fallen, as we move into the festive period I would urge everyone to be extra vigilant and consider their security arrangements to limit criminals’ opportunities.

“We will continue to focus on the reduction of violent crime and crimes of a sexual nature and I would like to assure the public that we take this very seriously.”