Robberies and street muggings recorded by police in England and Wales jumped by 8 per cent in the final quarter of last year, according to latest crime figures published today.

Vandalism soared by more than 10 per cent and public concern about drug dealing on the streets, public drunkenness and yobbish behaviour also increased.

At the same time the public’s confidence in the effectiveness of the criminal justice system in catching criminals and bringing them to justice fell.

The last set of crime figures before Tony Blair quits 10 Downing Street showed that overall recorded crime fell by 2 per cent between October and December last year compared with the same period in the previous year.

The figures mean that for the last full calendar year of his premiership, Mr Blair, who came to power promising to be "tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime", will be able to say that offences recorded by police forces in England and Wales fell.

Total violent crime fell by 1 per cent though the number of gun-related deaths increased rose 8 per cent from 53 to 57 between 2005 - 2006.

However, overall firearms offences fell by 16 per cent from 11,274 to 9,513.

Drugs offences rose 3 per cent and recorded vandalism leapt by 11 per cent.

But it is the continuing rise in robbery which will concern Home Office ministers.

A total of 26,600 robberies took place between October and December last year - a jump of 2,400 on the previous quarter and two thousand more than the same period in 2005.

Officials in the Home Office believe the continuing increase in robbery is due to the increasing number of gadgets carried by the public and youngsters, including mobile phones and iPods.

Another suggestion is that the growing trend to al fresco eating and drinking outside public houses is providing additional targets for robbers.

Tony McNulty, the police minister, said that though overall robbery had fallen in the last five years, the rise showed there was still work to do.

Mr McNulty added:“Mobile phones are still involved in over 50 per cent of street robberies, which is why we have established regional robbery action plans to address a problem concentrated in specific areas.

“We have also worked with the mobile phone industry to ensure over 80 per cent of stolen phones are now blocked within 48 hours.”

Figures from the separate British Crime Survey, which interviews over-16s on their experience of crime, estimated the number of offences remained stable at 11.1 million in the year to the end of last December.

The BCS showed a rising per centage of people concerned about anti social behaviour, an area Mr Blair has focused on tackling as part of the Government’s attempt to instil more respect in society.

Almost one in five people said that high levels of anti social behaviour were a problem in their neighbourhoods.

A quarter said people being drunk or rowdy in public places was a problem in their area and almost 30 per cent were concerned about people using or dealing in drugs.

The rise in public concern with a range of anti social behaviours may be a reflection of the fact that the Government has drawn attention to the issue and is encouraging people to report such incidents.

Nick Clegg, Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, said: “If tough talk, government gimmicks and endless legislation could cut crime, Britain would be the safest country in the world.

“But these figures show that is very far from being the case, with robberies and vandalism rising month by month. If we really want to cut crime, we don’t need to get tougher, we need to get smarter.”

Ian Johnston, Association of Chief Police Officer’s spokesman, said police were tackling local robbery hotspots and the issue driving crime such as mobile phone ownership, the behaviour of young people and the vulnerability of key locations.

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