Suffolk'S top policeman pledged this week that his force was toiling tirelessly to catch the burglars bringing misery to families in Lowestoft and Waveney.

Suffolk'S top policeman pledged this week that his force was toiling tirelessly to catch the burglars bringing misery to families in Lowestoft and Waveney.

Speaking exclusively to The Journal, chief constable Simon Ash admitted that 'it was great' to see the latest overall figures for the district.

But he issued a stark warning that his policing teams would not become complacent in the year ahead.

And, given the recent spate of burglaries and attempted burglaries at people's homes in Lowestoft, the chief sent out a reassuring message to householders locally.

Latest figures have shown that, between April 1 and November 30 this year, reported crime in the district was down by 3.5pc year on year.

Mr Ash said: 'It is great to see that crime has gone down in Waveney this year.

'We know from talking to victims who have had their homes violated that this can be a particularly traumatic experience, and a lot of effort is going into this, with the focus of our efforts catching these burglars.

'There has been high-visibility policing, and covert operations, to tackle these crimes, and the public should be reassured that we are working tirelessly to address this.'

Reflecting on the past year and looking ahead to challenges for the force in 2010 and for policing in Waveney, the chief constable hailed the impact of safer neighbourhood teams (SNTs) across the county.

He said their development had led not only to more bobbies on the beat but had created a visual presence on the streets once more.

'The SNT areas have been very successful, and we'll be looking to continue to improve this in 2010,' he said.

He is keen to build on the successful relationship that has stemmed from local people liaising with their beat officer, so frontline police officers look set to remain at the heart of communities in Lowestoft and Waveney.

Mr Ash said:'Crime in the county is about the same as it was this time last year, but Waveney is performing

slightly better than that and, putting these figures into context, Suffolk is a low-crime area.'

Much has been said again recently about the possibility of the Norfolk and Suffolk constabularies merging.

Also being mooted in some quarters is a 'super-force' idea for the wider region bringing in Cambridgeshire and Lincoln-shire too.

Where does Suffolk's chief constable stand on that issue?

He said: 'The situation from the Suffolk perspective is we have not got any plans to merge with any other force.

'We are looking to collaborate with other forces on incidents of serious and organised crime, but local residents can expect

in the future that we will be maintaining a very welcome face to policing in the SNT areas.'