James Kelly, a 77-year-old retired labourer, refused to believe that crime in Westfield, York’s most deprived area, had fallen by 22 per cent last year.

Pointing his walking stick past the rundown brick houses towards the youth centre, he said: “Round here it’s getting worse and worse. You never get police on these streets now. Only hoodies. Thugs. Kids going around with knives. I lock my wife inside the house when I go out, it’s got that bad.”

Mr Kelly has taken to keeping a “massive great bat” under his bed to defend himself, despite never having been a victim of crime. His perception, in common with many living in the city, is that violence is rising.

The figures released yesterday show that, overall, crime in York fell by 9 per cent last year, mirroring a nationwide trend. Vehicle crime dropped by 30 per cent and robberies by 15 per cent to 133. Even bike crime is drastically reduced. In the summer of 2006, 180 bikes a month were being stolen; now the figure is four. Yet changing people’s perception of crime is more difficult than reducing it, police admit. Fewer than half of the city’s residents see it as a safe place, according to a survey conducted by York City Council last year. Forty-six per cent feel uncomfortable going out alone at night.

“People have to recognise that, generally, York is a low-crime area,” said Chief Inspector Andy Hirst, the officer in charge of neighbourhood safety for York and Selby. “It’s the fifth year in a row that crime’s fallen. We’re trying to reassure communities that there’s no reason to have a high fear of crime.”

The message appeared to be getting through to some. Paul Greenwood, 40, a bricklayer who, like Mr Kelly, lives on the city’s deprived Chapelfield estate, said: “I had my car broken into last month. Apart from that it’s been very quiet. Two years ago you had kids hanging around the youth centre making trouble. Now you have a lot more police on the streets. All the antisocial behaviour has basically gone.”

Faz Reyman, 47, a shopkeeper, agreed. “The windows of my shop were smashed by some kids this week,” he said. “They hang around, intimidating the customers. But compared to two or three years ago it’s nothing. Then I had trouble every day – now it’s only once a week.”

Most Westfield residents appreciated the “high-visibility” strategy of Grahame Maxwell, North Yorkshire’s Chief Constable: 82 community police officers have been put on the city’s streets this year and a police station has been set up inside Westfield Primary School.

“Most days we see officers on bikes,” said Joanne Robinson, a mother who felt safe enough to let her children play on the street outside her house. “Before, we used to see cars abandoned, lots of burglaries. Everyone says that this area is rough but it’s quite nice now.”

Mr Hirst puts the improvement down to groups made up of representatives from businesses, police and council workers that focus on particular types of crime. One group found that vehicles were being stolen from a cinema car park while the films were on. The cinema owner increased patrols and eliminated the thefts overnight.

Terry Collins, the council’s director of neighbourhood services, said: “We have tried to involve everyone in making York safer. We even have a team which stands outside nightclubs at the weekends handing out free water and flip-flops for girls with high heels.”

A group of 17-year-old boys, however, were not happy about the increased police presence. “We always get harassed by the police,” Anthony Close said. “Fine, we give people a bit of banter but we’re not about to stab anyone. People think we’re going to start on them. They’re scared when they don’t need to be.”

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