The Home Office's biennial British Crime Survey, out today, shows that the proportion of people affected by crime has fallen by 10 per cent. Theft, burglaries and car crime have fallen sharply, but "stranger" violence, particularly that which involves people under the influence of alcohol, has risen. Despite perceptions of high rural crime rates the survey indicates that countryside crime has fallen since 1995 and country dwellers are much less likely than their city counterparts to fall victim to burglaries or violent crime.