Public confidence in Wiltshire's criminal justice system has risen by more than seven per cent in the past four years, according to latest figures.

More than 49 per cent of those asked said they were "very confident" that the system was able to bring offences to justice, up from 42 per cent in March 2003.

Norman Jeffery, area director of HM Courts Service and Wiltshire Criminal Justice Board's senior responsible officer, said: "The Wiltshire Criminal Justice Board met its confidence target of 48 per cent in Wiltshire in the last financial year.

"The fact Wiltshire is now also the second safest county should serve to help raise confidence further."

A Justice in Partnership open day was held last month in Salisbury to help raise the Board's profile and increase confidence. More than 1,000 members of the public attended the event.

Other figures show Wiltshire Criminal Justice Board is now bringing record numbers of offences to justice.

The latest figure for year ending March 2006 was 12,287 offences, which was 680 offences above target.

For a full breakdown of the performance figures in Wiltshire, log on to www.cjsonline.gov.uk/lcjb/ wiltshire.