Home office crime statistics have sparked controversy by naming a Cambridge street one of the most crime-ridden in the country.

The statistics, published on the governments new crime-mapping website, state that there were 127 offences and anti-social behaviour incidents on Peas Hill in december, making it the ‘sixth worst’ street in England and Wales.

However Cambridgeshire’s chief constable, Simon Parr, claims that force data has only 8 crimes reported on Peas Hill during the whole of 2010.

The street, which is adjacent to Market Square, is thought to be suffering from skewed totals as a result of the inclusion of data from busier areas such as Market Street and Lions Yard.

Local residents and business owners are said to be surprised and angered about the statistics, which they fear will affect the area’s reputation. The owner of a shop off peas hill, Joan Lefever said “its a load of rubbish – we never see any crime at all out there and we’re here all the time ... It's very detrimental because we have the tourist information office here and people will be scared to come down here”.

The crime mapping website police.uk was established, according to Home Secretary Theresa May, to give residents “real facts and figures”. It suffered from technical difficulties initially when an unprecedented 75,000 people tried to log on.

The initiative has been mired in controversy. Some are concerned that reporting such detailed crime statistics will not only have a sensationalist effect on the public but also damage house prices in certain areas and advise potential criminals as to which areas are most heavily policed.

What is more the figures themselves have been disputed in multiple areas which may have been misrepresented, as appears to have happened in the case of Peas Hill.

Inspector Paul Ormerod accepted that the coverage was not perfect and was keen to say that the statistics should not simply be taken at face value “The Crime Mapper system does allow location indicators to be asses to ensure the presentation of data is not misleading but until the site was live we were unable to determine where these points are”. He added “the force is working with the National Policing Improvement Agency and reviewing this data to ensure there is a more accurate representation of crime information”.

It is hoped that residents will see what they think is a more accurate reflection of crime rates in Cambridge as the system becomes more refined.