ARMED robberies in the Hunter have reached epic proportions, with the number of hold-ups this year set to break a 10-year record.

MARCH 3: Matilda, Birmingham Gardens

MARCH 21: Nauti & Nice, Sandgate

APRIL 22: Cooranbong

MAY 2: Caledonia Hotel, Aberdare

JULY 23: Hungry Jacks, Jesmond

AUGUST 26: Stockton Bowling Club

NOVEMBER 7: 7/11 store, Argenton·

NOVEMBER 16: Adamstown Bowling Club

The figure for 2012, currently at 125, is set to fall just shy of 140 businesses, a 66per cent increase on last year (84) and a worrying sign of things to come for the Hunter’s thousands of customer service staff and business owners.

This year’s armed robbery rate eclipsed last year’s tally by July 27, passed the 100 mark in early September and has been steadily growing at a rate of 12 a month.

This year has already smashed the record for every year dating back to the early 2000s, when a spike in the violent crime saw the Hunter register 136 hold-ups in 2003 and 162 in 2002, according to figures provided by the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research.

A shortage of heroin triggered the surge in armed robberies in 2002, with Hunter police investigating 25 hold-ups in 30 days to start the year. Drug experts told the Newcastle Herald at the time that skyrocketing heroin prices were causing cash-strapped addicts to turn to violent crime to pay for their habit.

The figure gradually declined after 2003 before falling to as low as 64 during 2010.

But as a flood of heroin hit Hunter streets again this year the armed robbery rate soared.

Hunter police were called in to investigate 40 armed hold-ups in 60 days during January and February as heroin replaced methamphetamine as the addicts’ drug of choice.

Paul Dillon, the director of Drug and Alcohol Research and Training Australia, said although heroin users tended to be less dangerous than those affected by ice, the extreme addictive nature of heroin could cause users to be more desperate for their next hit.

‘‘Heroin is a drug of dependency, when you don’t have it you get very bad physical withdrawals that result in quite unpleasant effects on your body,’’ he said.

‘‘There are some people who don’t seek treatment and their only thoughts are on their next hit so if they can’t afford it that may mean they resort to committing crimes to support their habit.

‘‘Ice has more of a psychological dependency and the withdrawals are not as extreme.

‘‘Most intravenous drug users don’t really like the effects of speed but they use it while heroin is not available and if heroin does come back into the market then it can be quite expensive.’’

Mr Dillon said there was a drug drought in the mid-2000s after the heroin epidemic, which led to a rise in violent crime and numerous overdoses, but the quantity and the quality of the drug now in the market was stable.

This year’s tally has also been boosted by a significant decline in street robberies – impromptu attacks on public transport, in parks or on quiet streets – as armed crooks focus their attention on businesses open after hours that can guarantee a few hundred dollars in cash and a quick getaway.

December, considered one of the most expensive times of year, is also a strong month for armed hold-ups with major police commands in Newcastle, Cessnock, Maitland, Lake Macquarie and Port Stephens seeing 116 hold-ups collectively over the past 10 years.