CRIME in Wiltshire is falling but violent and sexual offences becoming more common, according to figures published yesterday.

The overall fall of 2.5 per cent goes against the national trend, which has seen a 2 per cent increase across England and Wales.

Burglaries and thefts are down, but violent crimes are up by a sixth, both nationally and locally.

And recorded sex offences in Wiltshire have increased by more than two fifths (43 per cent), with 415 more offences than in 2013.

But both Chief Constable Patrick Geenty and police commissioner Angus Macpherson say they are confident the number of victims of violent and sexual crimes has not increased.

Instead, they say the spike in the figures is due to better recording by officers.

But it was only in November that the force's own figures revealed that rapes and child sex offences were not being recorded properly in Wiltshire.

In fact, Wiltshire Police had manipulated the recording of sexual offences to make it seem like it was performing better than it really was.

Figures showed around 50 reported rapes were not recorded in 2013, while around 30 serious sexual offences, including rape and child-sex crimes, were dealt with using “community resolutions”, which include an apology or compensation, instead of prosecution.

A report on the reliability of crime data published in November, revealed that around one in eight crimes reported in the county was not recorded at all.

When asked why the public should trust the latest figures, Mr Macpherson said Wiltshire Police had carried out an internal review of its procedures and had done “robust work over the last year to make sure the figures are accurate”.

He also said victims now had the confidence to report crimes in the wake of the Jimmy Savile revelations.

He said: “What I need to be sure of is that people who come forward have the confidence it will be recorded. We have got to have members of the public prepared to come forward, and the increase is the result.

Asked how he would stop officers manipulating the crime figures, Mr Macpherson said the force had “moved away from a target-led culture”.

“We don’t have those targets any more, they have disappeared,” he said.

“I’m confident we are getting ahead of that culture but culture is something takes a long time to change and we don’t necessarily take 100 per cent of staff with us on that journey at the same time.”

The latest Office for National Statistics figures, which compare 2014 with 2013, show Wiltshire has the fourth lowest level of recorded crime in the country.

Chief Constable Patrick Geenty was “unavailable for interview” but in a pre-prepared statement said he was pleased with the numbers.

“It is right that we are held under scrutiny as to the standard of our crime recording so that it shows a true picture of crime in our county," he said.

"The increase in violence and sex offences was anticipated and we are confident this is as a result of hard work by the force to improve recording practices.”