Burglaries, vehicle thefts, and drugs possession have all seen an increase in Iffley in the past 12 months.

But police have vowed work is well under way to tackle areas of crime.

Overall total crime in Iflley is up 15.5 per cent with incidents increasing from 317 in 2010/2011 to 366 last year.

The biggest increases were seen in burglary of dwellings, which is up 147 per cent – from 19 incidents to 47 – followed by criminal damage to dwellings – from seven to 13 incidents. The figures were recorded between April 2011 and March 2012.

Insp Matt Coburn said the number of burglaries had fallen in the Iffley area since April, with neighbourhood officers being employed to tackle hotspots.

He added: “Successful work on a small number of burglars can have a big impact and if we see an increase we remind residents to react by improving security.”

Insp Coburn said the neighbourhood area suffered the “background radiation” of car crime but added that car crime for criminals was not as lucrative as it used to be.

Cracking down on graffiti and other environmental crime was crucial, the inspector added.

He said: “If you allow environmental crime to soil a neighbourhood you will lose because people will have no pride in their community.

“You need to be quick to tackle noise nuisance, graffiti and overflowing bins, get in there quick, and show people it is not acceptable. I want to make this neighbourhood the safest neighbourhood in the city.”

Oxford city councillor David Williams said more work was still needed in the area. He said: “Any rise in crime is a real concern for the community. It can destroy people’s lives and the consequences from that can be horrendous.”

“The Neighbourhood Action Group have been doing a good job at identifying where crimes are taking place.

“We have got to ask Chief Constable Sara Thornton to redouble efforts.

“Perhaps the double dip recession can explain the relationship between crime and people losing jobs. It is our responsibility to try to stop this.”