Crime recorded by police in England and Wales is falling at an accelerating rate, according to official figures published yesterday.

The continuing drop in recorded crime was marred by a 4 per cent increase in gun crime, although the number of deaths from such offences has fallen. The total has risen because of offences where no one was injured or where the firearm was used to threaten the victim.

The latest crime figures will be a relief to Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, after the controversy caused by her remarks that official advice to people would be that they should not walk through any unfamiliar place after midnight. Ms Smith added on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: “That’s a sensible answer isn’t it?”

Recorded crime fell to 1.24 million offences between July and September last year compared with the same period the previous year. There were sharp drops in criminal damage, offences against vehicles, robbery and offences against the person where no injury was caused.

Violence against the person fell by 8 per cent to 253,000 and there was a 16 per cent fall in most serious violence, including murder, serious wounding and attempted murder, to 4,500. The year-on-year reduction conceals a steady rise in more serious violence in the first nine months of last year from 4,000 to 4,500 crimes. Robbery fell by 17 per cent to 20,000 recorded offences and sexual offences by 9 per cent from 15,800 to 14,400. The reduction conceals a rise in sexual offences in the first nine months of 2007.

Household burglaries fell from 73,100 to 67,000 and criminal damage offences from 281,000 to 250,000 but drug offences jumped 21 per cent to 55,700, which the Home Office said was a result of the police making greater use of their powers to issue a formal warning for people caught in possession of cannabis.

Figures from the separate British Crime Survey, which interviews 40,000 adults about their experiences of crime, showed a 4 per cent fall in the 12 months to the end of September 2007 compared with the previous 12 months. There were 10,182 recorded firearm offences in the year to September compared with 9,755 in the previous 12 months. The figures showed there were six fewer gun-related deaths in the year – 49 compared with 55 – and serious injuries were down 16 per cent to 368.

A 4 per cent rise in slight injuries to 2,728 and a 6 per cent increase in threats and noninjury incidents led to a 4 per cent rise overall.

Ms Smith said: “These latest crime figures contain some excellent results and I am particularly pleased that the risk of being a victim of crime is now at a historically low level.”

She said that the Government would attempt to strengthen its efforts against violence and antisocial behaviour this year.

Ministers plan to publish a plan to tackle violent crime next month after Ms Smith was told by the director of the drug and crime strategy, soon after becoming Home Secretary, that there needed to be a robust response to serious violence and serious sexual offending.

David Davis, the Shadow Home Secretary, said: “These latest official figures show that Labour is failing to combat both violent crime and its causes.”

Chris Huhne, the home affairs spokesman for the Liberal Democrats, said: “Violent crime – including, most alarmingly, gun crime – is still far higher than ten years ago and has to be tackled much more vigorously.”

Clare Checksfield, the chief executive of Crime Concern, a crime prevention charity, said: “The crime figures show once again the gap between a falling crime rate and people’s perception of an unsafe Britain.”

Times Recommends

• How I lost the gift of joy for a while
• Why Ann Widdecombe has got it wrong
• Alas, it’s the end of the road for petrolheads