POLICE Scotland say they are winning the battle against crime in East Ayrshire.

The new body was set up in 2013 as the successor to eight former territorial law enforcement agencies, the Scottish Police Services Authority, and the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency.

It led to widespread office closures - including Drongan and Dalmellington - and the slashing of opening hours at larger offices like Cumnock and Sanquhar.

And while that caused controversy and anger amongst locals, Police Scotland say they have the stats to back up the changes.

Chief Superintendent Gillian McDonald released East Ayrshire’s Local Policing Plans earlier this week.

And she claims more people have been arrested for supplying drugs - a 40 per cent rise from last year - and less people are the victims of serious assaults.

She said: “There has been a 40 per cent drop in crimes of serious assault, with nine fewer victims in the first quarter of 2014/2015 compared to the same period last year.” A continued focus on domestic abuse incidents has resulted in a 13 per cent fall in domestic bail offences and overall 2 per cent reduction in domestic abuse crimes and offences. Roberry, though, has seen an increase with 13 actual incidents involving 16 victims.

But perhaps their biggest successes have come on the road with significant progress being made.

She added: “Performance in relation to road policing in East Ayrshire has been particularly positive. Most importantly, the significant increase in detections of road crime offences has resulted in far fewer casualties on East Ayrshire’s roads compared to the previous reporting period.

“Worthy of note is the significant decrease in the number of people killed or seriously injured on roads in East Ayrshire. This has decreased to 21 compared to 52 the previous year with a significant decrease also in those slightly injured.

“This notable drop can in part be attributed to targeted patrols of crash locations and priority routes by Divisional road policing officers and robust enforcement of road traffic legislation to influence driver behaviour.”