The campaign, which lasted for the whole of December, resulted in a 10 per cent reduction in all British Crime Survey (BCS) crimes compared to the same month the previous year.

Wounding fell by 20 per cent, criminal damage was reduced by 67 per cent and there were no reports of robbery during the month.

During the month, extra resources were put into the town centre during the day and night to carry out high profile patrols. Test purchasing operations were carried out to tackle the sale of alcohol to underage people and visits were made to all licensed premises in the area.

Insp Emily Roberts, from the Newbury town centre, said: “The town centre was very busy at key times during the festive period, but we had no significant incidents.

“We have reduced violent crime which was our overall aim for the campaign in December and other crimes have fallen as well, so it has been a very successful period.

“We have worked hard to achieve these results, in partnership with West Berkshire Council.

“But we will not be resting on our laurels. We will continue to look at other ways of further reducing crime in our town centre.”

Supt Chris Shead, the West Berkshire LPA Commander, added: “We are all very pleased with the results that have been achieved during the busy Christmas and New Year period and we will be looking to build on that in 2008.

“My message to people planning to come to Newbury for a night will continue to be ‘come and have a great time, but if you step over the line you will be dealt with robustly’.