THE number of assaults carried out on people in Wyre Forest are set to fall by almost two thirds during the current year, compared with figures for the same period two years ago.

Statistics presented to the district's Community Safety Partnership show the number of assaults for 2005-06 are anticipated to peak at 174 - a 62.2 per cent drop on the 461 recorded during 2003-04.

A similar improvement is expected in instances of wounding, with the 1,081 of two years earlier set to decrease to 815, a 24.6 per cent improvement.

Vehicle crime, including thefts of and from vehicles, is also expected to be down by a quarter - 26.9 per cent - over the comparison period, from 1,502 to 1,097.

Criminal damage incidents are also set to fall, by 16 per cent, from 2,266 to 1,900, as Wyre Forest appeared likely to end the year to this month ahead of its targets in each of the categories.

Overall, crime levels are expected to be down by a quarter - 25 per cent.

During January this year, there were 156 reported criminal damage offences in the district, ranging from homes to vehicles and including 18 deliberate fires.

Wards where most offences took place were Oldington and Foley Park, with 31, Greenhill, 22, Mitton, 19 and Sutton Park, 17.

The times of day when criminal damage was most likely to occur in Oldington and Foley Park were, generally, in the hours just after 6pm and 10pm. During January, however, it was an hour later in both cases.