COUNCILLORS in York are calling for police chiefs to “come up with answers” about how they will tackle antisocial behaviour, car crime and cycle theft in the city.

Members of a City of York Council committee which monitors the work of North Yorkshire Police fear York is performing poorly on some crime fronts and say they have “great concerns” about an increase in problems caused by troublemakers.

They claim York is now among the “least safe” cities within a group of other areas – comparing its crime levels against other parts of the UK – while almost all areas of offending have risen.

Other members of the group include Canterbury, Colchester, Exeter, Trafford, Cheshire, Tunbridge Wells and Swindon.

The authority’s community safety overview and scrutiny committee believes cycle crime is not the only reason for York’s “low” ranking and has formed a task group to look at antisocial behaviour. Its views will be discussed by North Yorkshire Police Authority next week.

Clifton councillor Ken King, who chairs the scrutiny committee, said: “We have great concerns about anti-social behaviour, which seems to be going up in all areas.

“In some parts of the city, it seems to be at disproportionate levels, which is why we had to set up a task group. Another area is vehicle crime – in recent weeks, a spate of cars have been vandalised in Clifton and it seems to be a regular occurrence. I’m concerned that we do seem to be hit by the same crimes. I would expect the police to do more and come up with some answers.”

Coun King said the committee felt wider CCTV use on roads into and out of York should be considered and cycle crime had to be addressed, He said: “I would have thought the police would have come up with some kind of system to combat these thefts. We have the figures, we know where thieves are coming from and which places they are targeting, so it seems to stand to reason that we can do something about it.”

The report said “recurring issues” raised by committees included the performance of North Yorkshire Police’s new control room, public confidence in the force, increases in burglary and “poor community consultation”.

“The overview and scrutiny process continues to be a significant vehicle of local accountability,” it said. “Already it is providing a vital communication link to ensure that the views of committees are fed back to the force.”

No one from North Yorkshire Police was available to comment yesterday, but The Press previously reported that North Yorkshire Police saw 970 fewer incidents between October and December last year and there were 56 fewer domestic burglary offences thanks to high-profile schemes such as Operation Salient in York.

And Chief Constable Grahame Maxwell said: “We are fortunate that North Yorkshire and the city of York is one of the safest places to live, work or do business in with continually low crime rates.

“However, this does not automatically mean that our communities should have confidence that we are addressing those issues that are most important to them.”