"Tories bury truth about West Berks crime soaring" - Brooks

10.11.13am BST (GMT +0100) Mon 2nd Apr 2007

Tories have been covering up the truth about local crime rates

Lib Dem Leader Jeff Brooks has today accused West Berkshire Council's Tory administration of suppressing alarming statistics about the district's crime problem.

Speaking after the Home Office branded West Berkshire one of the bottom 44 authorities for tackling crime, Councillor Brooks said:

"I am appalled to find out that West Berkshire's crime rates are soaring, and even more appalled to see the Tories suppressing this important information. For example criminal damage is up by 27% in only one year. Overall, crime rates are up by 25.9% over last year - and yet I am staggered to see that Reading crime rates only rose by 6.2% in the same period.

"West Berkshire Council Liberal Democrats recently proposed an amendment to this year's budget, which would have funded two additional Neighbourhood Wardens and extra mobile CCTV units. The Tories, secretly knowing this drastic increase in crime, voted against these proposals. The people of West Berkshire deserve to know the real picture when it comes to crime and safety in district."