Crime on the rise in Shropshire and Telford

The data, released by the Office for National Statistics, showed that crime in the region saw an overall rise from 2015 to 2016, but some offences saw a drop in the number of incidents.

Bicycle theft fell in Shropshire by eight per cent, while incidents of domestic burglary dropped by nearly 20 per cent.

In Telford, domestic burglaries dropped by 24 per cent and drug offences also plummeted by the same amount.

But both areas saw a huge hike in the number of possession of weapon offences – Shropshire's rose by 35 per cent while Telford's rose by 15 per cent.

The figures, showing incidents for the 12 months ending December 2015 and 2016, show criminal damage and arson also rose in both areas – by 7.35 per cent in Shropshire and by four per cent in Telford & Wrekin.

The Office for National Statistics, in publishing its report, said: "The police recorded 4.8 million offences in the year ending December 2016, an increase of nine per cent compared with the previous year.

"However, the large volume increases driving this trend are thought to reflect changes in recording processes and practices rather than crime.

"However, there appeared to be smaller but genuine increases in some of the lower volume but higher harm categories of police recorded violence, including homicide and knife crime.

"There were also small increases in some offences where recording practices are less likely to have been a driving factor. For example, it is likely that recent rises in burglary and robbery reflect some genuine increases in crime.

"However, these recent increases should be seen in the context of substantial falls in such crime over the longer-term."

In Shropshire, robbery incidents rose by 47.5 per cent, while in Telford figures showed a rise of 2.5 per cent.

The total offences for Shropshire showed 14,759 crimes were recorded in 2016, up from the 13,656 the previous year.

In Telford & Wrekin, figures rose from 12,422 in 2015 to 12,330 last year.

Overall, figures in Powys saw a rise from 4,887 to 5,563 – a rise of 13 per cent.

Sexual offences rose in Shropshire by eight per cent and 13 per cent in Telford, but by just 2.8 per cent in Powys.

Shropshire saw a rise of 24 per cent in violence without injury, while Telford saw a rise of 28 per cent.

Violence with injury increased by 3.25 per cent in Shropshire and 11 per cent in Telford.

The figures are available to view at www.ons.gov.uk