Walsall tops the league tables on crime rates

Crime rates for every neighbourhood across the Black Country can today be laid bare.

New figures analysed by the Express & Star show that the St Matthews ward in Walsall saw more crime than any another other during the month of March, with 319 reports.

Streetly, also in Walsall, saw the least amount of crime across the area with just 24 incidents over the same period.

St Matthews councillor Mohammed Arif said he was 'extremely disappointed' that his ward, which covers Walsall town centre, had finished top of the Black Country crime league table.

"We are told that crime rates are going down and statistically that might be the case, but if you're a victim then one crime is too much. Here, we have specific problems in terms of drinking with homeless people and eastern Europeans doing that," he explained.

"When they drink on the street it leads to anti-social behaviour problems with fights taking place. They're a public nuisance."

Councillor Arif called for a 'zero tolerance' approach to anti-social behaviour and said that a recent restructure of policing in the area meant that 'low-level' incidents were not responded to swiftly.

He added: "We understand that because of reduction in funding from Government, there had to be a reorganisation. The Green Lane police station will be shut down and that's not going to help because it will remove a presence.

"For low-level crime reports, the police response time isn't as swift as we would like due to the reorganisation."

There has also been reaction to Streetly being dubbed the most peaceful area.

Local councillor Gary Clarke said: "We have had trouble here in the past but to me this is fantastic news. I've got to ge honest, the police have been working with us and we've been trying to involve the youths a lot more and ensure they've got something to occupy their minds so it keeps them out of trouble.

"There is so much good work going on and it is something we want to make sure we keep up."

The figures, from the national police data website, show that in the Dudley borough, Brierley Hill had more crime with 177 incidents and Kingswinford South had the least, with 31.

Elsewhere in the borough, Netherton, Woodside and St Andrew's ward had the third-highest figure, with 113.

Ward councillor Qadar Zada said he was disappointed with the figure, but added: "I'm adamant that the ward is a safe place to live.

"What I'm clear about is that we work with the police and hold monthly meetings with them and the public to identify crime.

"I was born in the ward and always lived there and it's a safe place to live."

In Sandwell, there were 157 reports in West Bromwich Central while Old Warley had the lowest crime rate with 35.

Councillor Bawa Dhallu, of West Bromwich Central, said: "The latest figures I have seen is that crime is coming down in the ward, there haven't been muggings or anything serious taking place."

There were 286 crimes in Wolverhampton city centre, which finished top of the city's table, while the lowest amount of crime was in Penn, with 28 incidents.

Penn councillor Paul Singh was delighted with the figures. He said: "Penn is a nice place to live and as a councillor for Penn I'm very pleased to hear the PACT team is very active.

"Our wardens are fantastic and are out and about at least 95 per cent of the time.

"We have a very good LNP also.

"And our local bobby on the beat Ron Price is very approachable which is important.

"We have neighbourhood watch schemes – the schemes are all there and new ones are being set up all the time, which only goes to help the community of Penn.

"Having a close-knit community plays a big part and that's what we have here."