This year's Dartmouth regatta saw a fall in crime as publicans called time on late night boozing, police have said.

More than 30 police officers, police community support officer and special constables were on duty both in Dartmouth and Kingswear over the three main regatta days.

And for the first time all the town's licensees agreed to close by 11.30pm on the regatta Friday and Saturday nights – helping to cut out groups of potentially drunken troublemakers roaming the town trying to find a pub that was still open and missing the last ferries back to Kingswear.

Dartmouth-based Sgt Robert Tansley said: 'That was one of the reasons we had such a low number of incidents.'

And Insp Andy Tomlinson said in a report to town councillors: 'Although the crime numbers during regatta show a marked increase over any other week, they are not bad considering the number of people in the town.

'This year certainly felt a lot better than last year and I am generally pleased with how it went from a crime and disorder perspective.'

The decision to close bars by 11.30pm on the main regatta nights was agreed following a series of meetings between licensees, the police and other groups in he wake of last year's regatta which saw a number of worrying drink-fuelled violent incidents.

Sgt Tansley said the policing of the regatta had gone 'very well' as he added: 'Obviously there were lots of people in the town on Thursday, Friday and Saturday but it went ahead without any major incidents. The atmosphere seemed to be very friendly.'

He said police had confiscated a small amount of alcohol from people travelling to the regatta and some people were arriving already under the influence. But he added: 'We did not see the large quantities of alcohol being brought in that we have seen at past events.'

And he added: 'I was very happy with the way things went. It was very well organised, all the agencies worked together and worked very hard.'

So many people were trying to get into the town on the Friday for the Red Arrows display that police were forced to close the town to traffic for a short while before the aerobatics show because there was simply nowhere for them to go.

And he said there had also been issues with the park and ride not being able to cope with the numbers of people trying to get out of the town following events like the Red Arrows and the fireworks displays.

'It isn't an issue for us but people were complaining,' he said.

The incidents police did have to deal with during the four main days of the regatta included assaults, thefts, criminal damage and a the break in at a fair ground ride.

l Two men from Brixham ended up in a punch up over a woman, during which one of them was knocked unconscious on Saturday night.

l Three men were cautioned for drinking too much before trying to climb on rides in the fun fair early on Wednesday morning.

l National Trust fleeces worth £130 were stolen from one of the Cheapjack stalls and at least two dinghies with their outboard engines went missing.

l Three men – two from Dartmouth and one from Torquay – were arrested by police at 2.45am on Wednesday when they were found messing around in the Mayors Avenue fairground and attempting to climb on rides. All three were cautioned for being drunk and disorderly and one of the men from Dartmouth was also cautioned for assault after he spat at a police officer.

The National Trust fleeces were stolen on Tuesday night from the stall on the North Embankment just after the cheapjack stalls had set up.

A dinghy along with an outboard engine was taken from the Town Jetty on Thursday afternoon between 5pm and 9pm.

Thieves broke into the Freddie's Revenge fairground ride between 12.30am and 1pm on Thursday morning stealing £200 worth of CDs and banners.

Vandals smashed a pane of glass in the South Hams Council South Embankment shelter at around 11pm on Thursday night.

A 21-year-old Dartmouth man was arrested at 10pm on Thursday night and later charged with common assault after he allegedly spat at a fairground worker after he had been asked to leave the fair.

A vandal caused £400 damage to a Ford Focus parked in Lake Street, Dartmouth, at 12.30am on Friday after he kicked the rear of the vehicle.

The 22-year-old man from Yeovil was caught by police after they viewed CCTV footage within an hour of the incident.

He was dealt with through restorative justice in which he paid the owners of the car the £400 cost of repairing the damage.

An Excel 290 grey dinghy with a 2.3cc Honda outboard engine worth a total of £1,400 was stolen the Town jetty between 8.30pm and 11pm on Friday night.

A 25-year-old man was arrested following a punch up between two Brixham men at the rear of the George and Dragon pub on Saturday night.

Both men had been drinking and were involved in a heated row over a girl when the 25-year-old allegedly punched the 19-year-old in the face – knocking him unconscious for some two minutes.

The 25-year old was released on bail while police inquiries continue.