ANYONE committting a crime had better keep looking over their shoulders – as they are likely to be caught.

That was the message from the police in Ivybridge this week, as they revealed they had the highest crime detection rate in the whole of south Devon.

At this week town council's meeting, Insp Adrian Leisk, in charge of the Ivybridge and Kingsbridge policing area, said: 'Since October 2012, the Ivybridge and Kingsbridge area has seen a significant reduction in crime and that trend is continuing to go down. For example, in September 2013 we had 35 offences in Ivybridge, while this year we had 27, which is really good news in terms of crime reduction.

'Not only that but the quality of the work that's ongoing here, we're really benefitting from having CID back.

'Our detection rate is the highest in south Devon. If an individual is a victim of crime within the Ivybridge area, they're more likely than anywhere else in south Devon to have their crime detected.

'So, in Ivybridge, we're detecting more offences than Torquay and, when you consider at Torquay they have got a custody centre, it's really positive news.'

However, Insp Leisk did say there were concerns about some young people engaging in violent behaviour.

He added: 'The not so good news is that we've been having ongoing issues with a group of young people who have been engaging in increasingly violent behaviour.

'One of these incidents was a pre-arranged fight between somebody under the age of 16 and a 21-year-old.

'The fight got out of hand and an individual received quite serious injuries.

'This prompted a special meeting held at the town hall, where we had a really positive meeting with the street pastors, anti-social behaviour officers, the school and fire service who are working together to pick out the individuals concerned.

'It is something that we are really looking at. It really is a concern to us.

'I've met with three of the individuals concerned and their parents and since this incident we've been quite fortunate that there has been quite a significant reduction.'