THE number of burglaries in Gwent dropped in 2021 compared to 2020.

According to new data released by the Office for National Statistics, Gwent Polcie recorded 2,864 burglaries in 2020. In 2021, this was 2,455 - a drop of around 14.3 per cent.

Gwent Police said residential burglaries were down by 11 per cent, while non-residential burglaries dropped by 21 per cent.

Police and crime commissioner, Jeff Cuthbert, said: "Keeping communities safe is a key priority for me and the significant fall in burglary, while due in part to the pandemic, is the result of proactive policing that is safeguarding properties and tackling the criminal supply chain.

"Gwent Police’s We Don’t By Crime scheme is helping to protect our residents in their homes, their businesses and in their communities.

"We can only protect communities on this scale with support from our partners and we are currently encouraging local community councils to come on board and use some of their allocated funding to provide crime prevention packs to residents in their area.

"There has already been a lot of interest and I would encourage community councils to come forward and find out more."

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The We Don't Buy Crime scheme has been credited with helping to reduce the amount of burglaries in the force area.

Community councils can buy crime prevention packs for residents which include warning signs and Smartwater.

Smartwater is a substance that forensically marks property, allowing them to be identified as well as linking offenders to crimes.

Deputy Chief Constable Amanda Blakeman said: "We're working hard to build trust across our communities and explain the importance of home security and other measure to deter crime.

"The pandemic changed a lot of things - from the way that we work, to the way that we live.

"One outcome has been a drop in opportunistic crimes such as burglaries.

"While this drop is a positive, we must not be complacent.

"Our We Don’t Buy Crime team is focused on tackling acquisitive crime using forensic property marking technology, local signage and other policing tactics.

"Only by working together can we continue to detect and deter crime across Gwent."