A HUGE rise in incidents of domestic violence in East Lancashire has been blamed on the recession.

Figures released by Lancashire Police after a Freedom of Information request by the Lancashire Telegraph show that the number of incidents leapt from 8,053 in 2008 to 10,755 in 2010, up 33 per cent.

A charity worker said the rise could be blamed on the number of redundancies and financial cutbacks hitting East Lancashire, while police said they were concerned at the increase.

Vivien Blackledge, project leader of the Women's Aid in Blackburn, said there had been an 11 per cent increase in incidents since January – when many of the redundancies in East Lancashire started to hit home.

She added: “We have seen an increase, especially since the Government cuts came in.

“Since January this year there has been a steady increase as more redundancies are announced and more are still coming through.

“Our figures show there has been a significant increase in financially related abuse with people under increased pressure with money and jobs being lost.”

Chief Inspector Sam McKenzie, from the force’s public protection unit, said: “The scale of domestic violence does concern us.

"However, we are comfortable with the rise in reporting as it reflects the removal of the veil of secrecy that surrounds the issue.

“Unfortunately, domestic violence still remains one of the most under-reported crimes and the one with the highest level of repeat victimisation which is a key challenge for us.

“Lancashire has made significant advances in tackling domestic violence within the county and it remains a priority for the force.

“We take a robust stance which is demonstrated in our high detection and conviction rates and we continue to make investment in this area with the purchase of new personal alarms and body cameras for officers attending incidents.”

Andrew Stephenson, MP for Pendle, said he was ‘very concerned’ about the rise: “They are fairly startling figures and I’m very concerned that it represents a significant rise in East Lancashire.

“Through the work of a lot of different agencies we have seen more and more people willing to come forward and report domestic violence.

“I hope part of this increase is a reflection of the hard work by the East Lancashire Women’s Refuge and other charities trying to address the problem.”

Women’s Aid said it had also seen a rise in men reporting incidents of domestic violence, with 22 per cent of cases reported by male victims.

Mrs Blackledge said: “More people than ever are coming forward because there are better services in place now that they know will respond quickly.

“There is a much better service out there than three to four years ago.

"The responses of the police and health service have improved and they are far more informed.”