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Crime in the county is falling, according to the latest Home Office statistics.

The publication of the Crime in England and Wales 2007/08 report painted a rosy picture of criminality in the country, with the south east once again coming out as one of the safest regions.

The figures show that recorded crime fell by 10.3 per cent in Kent, with 15,133 fewer crimes between April 2007 and March 2008 compared to the previous year.

The total number of crimes in the county recorded fell from 146,402 to 131,269 and Kent Police officers made 50,978 arrests.

But skeptics and crime experts believe the figures will do little to calm the fears of the nation as reports of knife attacks and deaths continue to flood the news.

~ Listen: Professor of criminology at Kent University, Marion Fitzgerald, claims the Government figures will not strike a happy cord with the public >>>

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Kent's Assistant Chief Constable Gary Beautridge said: "It is encouraging that the number of crimes being committed continues to fall even now and we will work hard to continue to improve the reductions we've seen in the last year.

"Drugs offences did rise, but this was expected because of the work done by officers to destroy networks."

He added: "The commitment of Kent Police, its officers and staff and the help we receive from the public have all contributed towards this excellent achievement in tackling and reducing crime."

Kent recorded the largest percentage decreases in the south east in burglary (13 per cent) and criminal damage (15 per cent), and there were further drops in other offences.

People in the county are now more than 40 per cent less likely to suffer a burglary than they would have 10 years ago.

This includes a drop of 23.3 per cent in serious violent crimes, 24.4 per cent less woundings, 18 per cent less robberies and 4.8 per cent less sex offences.

There were also 77 fewer reports of hate crime (1,150 recorded offences), and racially or religiously aggravated crimes fell by the same number.

The crime rate is 80 offences per 1,000 of population - well below the national average of 91 in 1,000.

Gravesham stood out as one of the best performing boroughs, with the largest reduction in crime across the county (16.6 per cent).

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith praised the work of local front line agencies involved in the fight against crime, and said: "The fall in crime in the south east shows the difference that can be made when we work together to tackle crime and is a testament to the effort and commitment shown by police and crime reduction partners across region."