A BOROUGH leader has linked rising crime in Lancashire to falling police numbers

Cllr Alyson Barnes, Labour boss of Rossendale Council, was commenting on Office of National Statistics figures released last week.

They show that from July 1 2017 to June 30 2018, recorded crime in Lancashire increased by 25 per cent.

The statistics also reveal that over the 12months violent crime went up by 51 per cent, robbery by 11 per cent and burglary by 11 per cent.

Cllr Barnes, Labour's prospective Parliamentary candidate for Rossendale and Darwen, also cited official figures showing that since 2010, the number of police officers in Lancashire has fallen by 680, and the number of PCSO's had dropped by 130.

She said: “We can’t keep Lancashire safe on the cheap. The Government is failing in their duty to keep our people safe. Our force here is now desperately under staffed and overstretched.

“This can’t go on. The figures show that this is a national problem – so it needs a national solution.

“These figures are an awful indictment. The next Labour Government will recruit 10,000 new police officers."