Crime in Croydon has dropped by almost 10 per cent - four per cent more than the London rate.

But according to the latest statistics - which monitor offences and detections in London from April 2006 to March 2007 - the number of gun crimes is up.

This is despite an 11.3 per cent reduction in gun crime across the Met area.

The new figures also show rises in the number of sex cases, business robberies and non-residential burglaries.

Croydon police welcomed the fact violent crime had dropped by more than 13 per cent. Borough Commander, Chief Superintendent Mark Gore, said: "This year has been our most successful since 1999.

"There has been 3,349 fewer victims of crime which is a significant achievement for this borough.

"Violence has reduced, robberies are down and more crimes are being solved."

The figures are for Chief Supt Gore's first full year as Croydon police boss after he took over from previous commander Vicki Marr following her retirement in November 2005.

Councillor Steve O'Connell, joint deputy leader and cabinet member for public protection and crime reduction, added: "We've had the greatest fall in crime across south London. It is a significant milestone on our journey to make Croydon a safe place. I'm really delighted with these figures."

The biggest successes for the borough included a 70 per cent fall in the number of murders and a 37 per cent drop in racist crimes.

In the past four years crime in the borough has dropped by 20 per cent and the fall in crime this year equals that of the past three years combined.

However, despite this, Chf Supt Gore said there was still a job to do: "We've got to take into account levels of antisocial behaviour and we'll be putting the greatest efforts in to achieve that.

"We are not diminishing the impact that crime has on individual victims. The service that we give to the public is just as important so if someone does have an unfortunate incident we need to provide the service to them that meets the needs of that person."

Graham Speed, chairman of Croydon Police Consultative Group, said there was still more to be done to ensure the level of reduction is sustained, and he hoped to see a further reduction in the number of robberies, knife crimes and gun crimes next year.

Next year's crime reduction target is 5.3 per cent.

The full crime figures

Number of offences April 06-March 07 Croydon Met total Total crimes 31,510 921,799 Homicide 3 168 Violence 6,741 182,355 Rape 97 2,304 Other sexual offences 257 7,001 Robbery (total) 1,829 45,771 Robbery (person) 1,653 42,460 Robbery (business) 176 3,331 Burglary (total) 3,464 96,728 Burglary residential 2,099 59,933 Burglary non-residential 1,365 36,795 Gun crime 154 3,375 Car crime 4,185 129,736 Domestic crime 2,491 54,746 Racist crime 265 9,976 Homophobic crime 20 1,184 Number of offences April 05-March 06 Croydon Met total Total crimes 34,859 984,125 Homicide 10 175 Violence 7,763 197,264 Rape 113 2,398 Other sexual offences 239 7,895 Robbery (total) 1,845 45,311 Robbery (person) 1,711 42,481 Robbery (business) 134 2,830 Burglary (total) 3,582 103,510 Burglary residential 2,291 64,174 Burglary non-residential 1,291 39,336 Gun crime 148 3,087 Car crime 4,487 137,772 Domestic crime 2,842 60,400 Racist crime 420 11,322 Homophobic crime 23 1,294