A NEW crime map website, which was so popular it crashed on its launch day, shows there has been a significant drop in recorded offences in the Axe Valley area.

A NEW crime map website, which was so popular it crashed on its launch day, shows there has been a significant drop in recorded offences in the Axe Valley area.

The national website, www.maps.police.uk, allows residents to view figures for all crime in their area, as well as rates of burglary, robbery, violence, vehicle crime and anti-social behaviour.

For the first time, people can compare one police area with another, compare figures over a three-month period against the same period for the previous year and view annual crime rates.

The interactive website, which launched on Tuesday, shows that the average number of crimes in Seaton has decreased by from 36 per cent to 23 - a drop of 34 per cent - over the three-month period compared with August to September 2008.

Axminster has dropped from 27.7 per cent to 25.3, and Lyme Regis from 22.7 per cent to 20.3 per cent.NCRIME 44 AB 22/10/09

n Latest crime figures for Seaton are published on page 7.