Violent crime has continued to rise while burglaries and car crime have continued to fall, according to the latest statistics.

Yet overall Britons were slightly less worried about crime in 2003 than they were in 2002.

The figures were published today as the Home Office published new measures to deal with alcohol-related offences.

Hazel Blears, the Home Office minister, said that much of violent crime was linked to binge drinking, and young men were the most likely social group to become victims of assault.

She said: "...it is clear from these figures that crime trends are changing. There are increases in violent crime. Seventy per cent of weekend night admissions to casualty are due to alcohol and in 50 per cent of violent crimes the attacker is intoxicated.

"The time has come to say enough is enough.

"The government is cracking down on irresponsible landlords who encourage binge drinking, we are going to put an end to no-go city centres..."

The Home Office's quarterly update on crime in England and Wales revealed that minor assaults rose by 21 per cent in the last quarter of 2003 compared to the same period in 2002, from 87,300 to 106,000.

Serious assaults and murders also increased by 13 per cent over the same period, from 9,500 to 10,700.

Over the same period domestic burglaries fell by 11 per cent, from 111,200 to 98,400. Thefts of and from vehicles dropped by 10 per cent, from 243,100 to 218,100.

The overall risk of being a victim of crime last year was at the same level it was in 1981, at 27 per cent - a likelihood of just over one in four, it said.

The Home Office also released today a second important study on British crime levels, this time based on interviews with the public. It suggested that violent crime actually fell by five per cent last year.