A TYPING error resulted in crime figures being misreported in a document sent out to local residents. St Albans District Council issued a consultation document about the Community Safety Plan in March which showed that there had been 343 fewer crimes ove

A TYPING error resulted in crime figures being misreported in a document sent out to local residents.

St Albans District Council issued a consultation document about the Community Safety Plan in March which showed that there had been 343 fewer crimes over two nine-month periods.

From April to December 2007 there were 7,215 crimes compared to 6,872 during the same period in 2008. But the two figures had been transposed in the report after being put in the wrong columns and though crime had fallen, it looked as it it had gone up.

Harpenden resident Peter Mannell spotted the error and asked the council to clarify the figures but he has yet to receive a response to his email. He also questioned why the document only compared figures from April to December each year and not a full 12-month period.

Chris Roach, the district council's community support manager, said: "The error was a human error and while regrettable, these things sometimes happen."

She added that the figures for the entire year from April 2008 to March 2009 weren't available when the report was issued so the council used the three quarter results instead, which they then compared against the same period the previous year.