LLANELLI'S new top cop has pledged his commitment to tackling violent crime in the town.

Inspector Neil Jones has listed his top policing priorities for the year ahead.

The 46-year-old was posted as a replacement for former town inspector Eric Evans in November, having served the town as custody manager at Llanelli Police Station since April.

The officer, who hails from Gorslas, was previously inspector at Ammanford for three years, and said he planned to tackle violent crime, antisocial behaviour and drug offences in Llanelli.

He added: "Burglary and theft offences in Llanelli are decreasing — over the past year, there has been a 26 per cent reduction in burglaries and a 19 per cent reduction in theft offences.

"Violent crime in Llanelli is a key priority for us — we want people to feel safe in their homes and reducing violence is part of that."

Last month, the Star reported how more than one in ten crimes recorded in Llanelli are violent.

The police.uk crime-mapping website revealed a total of 561 violent crimes across the town over the past year.

This equates to 47 violent incidents per month, or 11 per cent of the total 5,045 crimes recorded over 12 months.

Despite this, Inspector Jones said violent crime was rare in the town.

"I would like to say that Llanelli is a totally safe place but we can't predict spontaneous behaviour," he said. "But what we are doing is increasing our presence on the streets and working closely with the licensing trade and night-time businesses to make places safer for people.

"I think it's reassuring for people that serious violent crimes are rare in Llanelli, we have a very good record."

The father of two, who spent time working for London's Metropolitan Police at the beginning of his career, said residents were getting smarter on drugs in the town.

He said: "Llanelli is becoming more savvy about drugs — people are much more aware now and are tipping off police about anything they think is dodgy.

"Without the help of the public, we wouldn't be able to recover half of the amount of drugs which we currently do.

"Class A drug possession and use remains a top priority for us, and we are grateful that people are becoming wiser and are more vigilant."