CRIME reported to North Yorkshire Police has risen by more than five per cent in the last year.

Figures released in the North Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner’s Public Accountability Board meeting this week showed 16,502 incidents were reported to police between April and August - an increase of 5.1 per cent on the same period the previous year, and five per cent on the same period in 2015/16.

A report before the meeting said part of the increase was due to “two long standing crime trends of note - an increase in recording of sexual offences, and violence without injury”, while there had also been a recent increase in criminal damage and shoplifting.

The highest increase was in robbery (up 29.5 per cent on last year), while shoplifting is up 11 per cent, vehicle offences are up 9.3 per cent, arson and criminal damage is up 8.6 per cent on the same period last year.

On criminal damage, the report said there had been “small increases in each district” of North Yorkshire, and “in the main these are crimes reported to NYP with ‘unknown’ offenders causing damage before ‘making off unseen/unheard’”, which has accounted for the rise.

The police report also said the reported rise of sexual assaults showed an improvement in reporting and public willingness to contact the force following an incident. It said: “The trends are reflected nationally and have been reported on and discussed in previous meetings. The rises should not be seen as a negative but rather victims have confidence to come forward.”

The report also showed confidence in North Yorkshire Police was 84.3 per cent - up 3.1 per cent on last year.