TRAFFIC and fear of a crime surge dominate Worcester residents' anxieties, according to a new survey.

Worcester City Council sent questionnaires to 3,000 city households, asking what areas people think have improved or worsened since the last study in 2000.

Road congestion topped the list with 66.2 per cent of people saying that it has worsened, followed by crime with 44.4 per cent and road and pavement repairs, third with 43 per cent.

The authority's engineering and transportation department senior engineer, Tom Comerford, said congestion was a national problem.

"Car ownership has increased significantly," said Mr Comerford.

School run

"There are a lot of initiatives the county council are introducing to combat the problem, such as park and ride schemes and safer routes to school, which is designed to cut the number of cars on the roads during the morning school run."

With regards to crime, Home Office figures show that West Mercia Constabulary stepped up its detection rate from 29 per cent in 2002 to 32 per cent last year - one of the highest levels for any force in the country.

The figures also show that the level of crime, at 91 incidents per 1,000 residents in the force area, stands below the national average of 113 incidents of crime.

But Chief Inspector Sharon Gibbons of Worcester police said the perception of crime has increased because people are more confident reporting incidents.

"What we are really talking about is an increase in the number of crimes that are reported as opposed to the number actually committed," she said.

"The public perception of crime is is likely to continue to heighten as more people, who are both directly and indirectly affected by crime, have increased confidence in the police to come forward and report incidents.

"Ironically, although crime in Worcester and South Worcestershire is down overall on this time last year, particularly burglaries and vehicle crime, our experience confirms awareness of crime continues to climb in line with increased reports of violence, child abuse, race and hate-related offences."

The survey, a requirement of the statutory Best Value Performance Indicators, also

found that fewer people are satisfied with city council-run services, compared to three years ago.

Robert Moreland, head of policy and review, said while the figures were disappointing, the reduction is better than those reported from similar-sized councils in other parts of the UK.

"In the wake of similar exercises at two comparable authorities in the south and east of the country, both experienced drops in their overall satisfaction ratings during the same period - 10 per cent and 16 per cent respectively," said Mr Moreland.

Of the 3,000 questionnaires sent out 1,272 returned the forms, giving a response rate 42 per cent.