ACROSS Southampton the fear of violent crime is one of the biggest concerns facing communities.

Worryingly, the figures for the city put it far above the national average and even further above regional figures.

According to a new Department of Health Community Health Profile report, on average 33 people per 1,000 in Southampton were victims of violent crime in 2004 to 2005, with a total of 7,274 violent offences committed.

Meanwhile, Winchester, Fareham and Gosport, the New Forest and Eastleigh all had significantly lower levels of violent crime during the same period.

To put the Southampton statistic in context, Winchester and the New Forest top the local table with just 12 people in 1,000 becoming victims.

Fareham came next with 14.9 people per 1,000, while Eastleigh dropped to fourth, also falling below the regional average, with 17.3 in 1,000.

However, crime - or fear of it - is just one of many factors which can dramatically impact on happiness and health, say experts.

In Winchester, for example, though the district has one of the highest life expectancy rates in the country, bad AIR QUALITY is still driving down the overall figures.

The city centre's air quality is not only worse than the region as a whole, but it is also significantly worse than the national average.

While it may not sound as bad a factor as a high rate of violent crime, experts maintain it's a combination of factors that add up to affect the health of the community and the people in it.

A spokesman for the Department of Health, said: "Something like poor air quality affects people's health because of the things that make the quality low.

"In Winchester's case it is because there is too much traffic driving through the city centre.

"Not only does breathing in higher levels of pollution affect your health, particularly in terms of things like asthma rates and people with breathing difficulties, but the fact that more people are driving through the centre could suggest less people are walking and therefore taking exercise."

Interestingly, with the exception of the New Forest, all our regions fell below the national average for air quality levels - particularly in nitrous oxide levels and particulate emissions - all of which ostensibly come from motor vehicles.

These statistics, along with the violent crime numbers, fall into a section of the report titled Our Communities.

The section is aimed at examining the link between a healthy community and healthy people.

Other topics examined included deprivation, poor-quality housing, children in poverty, GCSE achievements and supporting older people at home.

The idea behind the comparisons is to get an insight into how the communities care for the people living in them, and what access those people have to services and the things they need to improve their quality of life.

Turning to GCSE EDUCATION, overall the region fares pretty well with all but one region, Southampton, scoring above the national average.

Winchester comes out top and close to the national high with 77.2 per cent of all students sitting GCSEs in the city getting at least five passes with grades of A-C.

Eastleigh comes second with 70.4 per cent, the New Forest third with 61.8 per cent, Fareham fourth with 58.9 per cent and Southampton bottom at just 47 per cent.

Dr Bob Coates, director of public health for the Mid-Hampshire Primary Care Trust, said: "Education is important for a person's health because it is a route out of despair, and offers people a massive chance to change their lives."

Educational achievements also closely mirror the prosperity of an area, which the report examines by looking at levels of CHILD POVERTY - defined as children living in households receiving less than 40 per cent of the national average income.

Once again Southampton comes out worst, with 27.4 per cent of youngsters living in poverty - about 11,000 children. The New Forest comes second with 21.6 per cent, Eastleigh third with 9.6 per cent, Fareham fourth with 8.2 per cent, and Winchester best with 7.2 per cent.