Telford’s top cop today vowed to continue the crackdown on burglaries as he revealed his division caught and convicted the most intruders in the West Mercia area.

James Tozer, who is acting chief superintendent at Malinsgate Police Station, said about two burglaries a day were committed in the Telford division area.

He said: “Crime levels have fallen and they have fallen quite dramatically. I recognise that is only reported crime and there will be of course some crimes which are not reported.

“Burglary is a good reflection of accurately reported crime. That has fallen significantly over the last four or five years, whilst it has probably reached a stable point of just under two a day, it is two too many but that is for an area with about 180,000 people.”

Mr Tozer, who has been in the police for 18 years, said he was passionate about getting tough on burglars because he knew the significant impact their crimes had on people’s lives.

He said more than half of break-ins in the Telford division, which has its own burglary squad dedicated to investigating break-ins, were committed by opportunist burglars getting in through unlocked doors or open windows.

“We are working with everybody to try and reduce that opportunity by people locking their doors or windows,” he added.

He said the people of Telford could be assured they were doing everything possible to lock up as many burglars as possible.

Mr Tozer said: “One of the things we do very well is catch burglars. We catch and convict more burglars than anywhere else in West Mercia. Our team is very committed to catching burglars and make sure they pay for the crimes they have committed.”