Rural areas 'suffering from closure of police stations' as violent crime rises faster than in town

Since Labour came to power, the 13 counties classified as "rural" have seen the sharpest increases in violent offending and criminal damage.

Violent crime rose by 119 per cent in country areas between 1998/99 and 2006/07 - compared with a national increase of 108 per cent.

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Rural criminal damage surged 60 per cent compared with 35 per cent for the country as a whole.

The overall number of offences has also gone up more in shire areas and reached 772,409 in 2006/07 - more than one a minute.

The Tories, who uncovered the figures, said the loss of rural police stations was to blame.

David Davis, the Shadow Home Secretary, said: "Crime is Labour's biggest broken promise and these figures show that rural areas are suffering the most.

"Despite hundreds of promises and initiatives, Labour have shown they have no fresh ideas of how to tackle rising crime and violence in our communities. Gordon Brown has totally failed to get a grip on this."

Offences of violence in Gloucestershire and North Wales have more than trebled - increasing by 235 per cent and 207 per cent respectively.

In Cambridgeshire, the number of drug offences has risen by 80 per cent - almost double the national increase.

The total number of recorded crimes in Dyfed-Powys has shot up by 22.5 per cent, almost four times the national increase of 6.2 per cent.

A total of 550 police stations have closed their doors for good over the past decade. Of those which have survived the cull, only one in eight is open round the clock.

The stations have been axed as part of a switch toward opening police kiosks, mobile vans or offices in community centres.

The Government says some of the closures have been offset by the creation of new stations.

Since 1997, 332 stations have been built - giving a net loss to the public of 218. Some of the new buildings are however multi-million pound divisional headquarters.

There are concerns that the situation will be made even worse by proposals for dramatic cuts to constabulary budgets.

Sir Ronnie Flanagan's plans for police reform - announced last month - would scrap rules designed to protect the budgets given to shire forces.

They are expected to lose millions of pounds each - with the cash being transferred direct to the cities which are Labour heartlands.

Levels of crime - the total number of offences, rather than the percentage increase revealed by today's figures - are a key factor in deciding how much central cash a force receives.

When the current system was introduced many years ago it was decided there should not be too large a gap between the grant given to constabularies at either end of the scale.

As a result, some were given more cash than they were technically due and others less. The money has become crucial to their budgets - and to keeping officers on the streets.

Sir Ronnie says these "floors and ceilings" should go, with forces paid exactly what they are due.

It will mean counties with relatively low levels of crime losing out. Cumbria will see its budget slashed by a fifth.

Sir Ronnie, who is chief inspector of constabulary, says no changes will be made for the next three years.