NEWHAM'S police chief has moved to reassure Stratford residents after it emerged crime figures in the area were much higher than those for the borough as a whole.

Details for the last 12 months show that Stratford and New Town ward experienced more crimes per thousand of the population in every category listed.

There were 48.1 instances of fraud and forgery compared with a borough figure of just ten. Levels of theft and handling are currently running at over three times the borough average, while there is twice as much burglary and drug crime.

Borough Commander Ch Supt Mick Johnson said the particular nature of the ward provided an explanation for the figures. He said: "It is a fairly big ward and a major transport interchange and route out of London, as well as a popular shopping area.

"There is a massive transient population who move through the area every day, so this should be taken into account when looking at the figures because they are only calculated using the number of people living in the area.

"The large number of industrial areas in Stratford means a lot of the burglaries are carried out on non-residential properties. Newham is one of the best performing boroughs in the country on this, the fourth best in London I believe, and we are down to 1980 levels."

Ch Supt Johnson said the police were working hard to improve the situation in known crime hotspots and that innovations in the design of new developments were lowering burglary and robbery levels in the area.

He said: "Crime prevention officers are working closely with developers and the council to try to design out' crime by taking into account the layout and aspects such as walkways to make it harder for criminals.

"This is already having a positive effect. Residents in new developments are much less likely to be the victims of burglary."

He admitted that street robberies were an ongoing problem, but said that there were initiatives to tackle it.

"We are engaged in operations in problem areas, which I can't go into detail about, but officers are working very hard to tackle the problems.

"The nature of Stratford does make it attractive for some criminals and we are still battling against it.

"I often get asked by people in other parts of Newham why we channel so many resources into Stratford, but if you look at the number of recorded crimes in the area it is a proportionate response.

"Once the number of people who visit Stratford on a daily basis is considered, the chances of someone living in Stratford being a victim of crime is not really higher than anywhere else in London."