Police patrols are being stepped up in Lowestoft as detectives continue to hunt for those responsible for more than 150 house burglaries in the town in the last five months.
Police patrols are being stepped up in Lowestoft as detectives continue to hunt for those responsible for more than 150 house burglaries in the town in the last five months.
Additional officers have been brought in to help the town's force tackle the spate of break-ins - including 33 house burglaries in the past two weeks.
Between December 23 and April 20, there have been 169 house burglaries and attempted burglaries recorded across the town. Police are urging householders to be vigilant and do all they can to protect their homes and property.
A Suffolk police spokesman said: "Police are stepping up both uniformed and plain-clothes patrols in the town, with extra officers being brought in to assist.
"Work is ongoing to target the offenders for these offences but we would urge anyone who sees someone acting suspiciously or notices anything suspicious to call police immediately on 999. This could include noticing someone in a neighbour's back garden, seeing one or more people hanging around a property or spotting someone carry-ing electrical items, for example."
In relation to the 17 house burglaries being investigated from last week, an 18-year-old man has been charged following a burglary in Denmark Road on Saturday and two 17-year-olds have been arrested in connection with break-ins at Borrow Road and Carlton Road.
New county figures show crime in Suffolk has fallen in the last year.
The figures, for April 1 2008 to March 31 this year, show that overall crime fell by 3.8pc, with 1,826 fewer crimes recorded than the year before.
Levels of violent crime remained the same, vehicle crime fell by 7pc, burglary across the county fell by 6pc and the force's detection rate improved by 4pc to 34.3pc. In total, 15,949 crimes were solved - an extra 1,285 compared to figures from 2007/8.
Suffolk police's call handling has also been above the force's 90pc set target, with 95.6pc of calls answered within 10 seconds last year.
Contact Lowestoft police on 01986 835300.
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