Violent crimes, sexual offences and knife-related incidents all rose in Essex last year - with the county’s crime rate the highest in the east of England.

Data released by the Office for National Statistics revealed Essex Police recorded 168,643 incidents overall throughout 2019, an increase of 12% year-on-year.

Throughout the county, the crime rate was 92 incidents per 1,000 people, slightly higher than the average for England and Wales.

Violent crimes against a person rose 23%, sexual offences jumped up 24% and all knife-related incidents leapt by a mammoth 44% since 2018.

However, Essex Police attributed the rise to improvements in how incidents are recorded.

A police spokesman said: “There are fewer people in Essex who are victims of violence with injury offences, robbery, burglary, and theft than the national average.

“We saw more than 1,800 fewer burglaries than during the previous year ,and reports of anti-social behaviour have also gone down.

“We have seen crime rise in Essex, as it has done across the country, which is why we continue to invest to support victims, protect the vulnerable, tackle violence, and increase visibility.

“We’ve significantly improved how accurately we’re recording crime, which has had an impact on the number of offences recorded.”

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