CRIME in Liverpool is estimated to have cost the taxpayer more than £77m last year, new figures show.

The data, released by the Citysafe Partnership, shows that the cost of wounding offences was calculated to have been around £38m in 2008, while burglaries cost around £12m.

The "cost" of crime is calculated on a number of factors, including "the seriousness, property stolen, length of time taken to investigate, the number of agencies involved and the impact on the victim", a report going before today’s council executive board.

The Partnership says that crime cost the city £14m less in 2008 than in 2007, but the report acknowledges that the calculations are based on "2003 prices" and that the actual value may have been "underestimated".

In the report, Citysafe chair, council chief executive Colin Hilton, acknowledges that "despite our achievements, people don’t necessarily feel safer and we recognise many crime and disorder challenges ahead, particularly during this time of global and economic downturn".

But although he praised the success of the work with "local partners and local communities", council leader Cllr Warren Bradley said that uncertainty about future government funding of schemes to help tackle crime could see the financial burden on the taxpayer increase.

He said some anti- crime initiatives would have to be "wound down" if funding was cut and fears that crime could rise.

Cllr Bradley said: "I think we should all be worried that these successful anti-crime schemes could be cut if the government removes the grant funding, and we could see a rise in crime and the cost of it if we had to stop the schemes.