Police chiefs in Lancashire are upbeat despite a two per cent rise in crime in the past year, including a sharp upturn in violent crimes such as robbery and rape.

In the 12 months up to June this year, 5,251 violent crimes were recorded in the county, an increase of 23 per cent on the previous year.

The latest figures, published this week by the Home Office, revealed 126,538 crimes recorded overall, an increase of 3,346.

Chief Constable Pauline Clare said: "Although there have been regrettable increases in the most serious crime crime categories, violent crime in the county is still, thankfully, among the lowest in the country."

She also thinks that a rise in recorded sexual offences may be due to people being more confident about reporting this types of crime and more sympathetic family protection teams and officers from domestic violence units.

The Chief Constable added: "We have a number of successful initiatives to address serious street violence and juvenile nuisance with mobile evidence gathering on video running alongside the more established CCTV systems which are becoming more effective across the county."

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