RECORDED crime in Wiltshire has increased by nearly a fifth (19 per cent), more than twice the national average, with sex offences, violent crime and robbery all on the rise.

Across the country, 39 out of 43 police forces saw an increase in recorded crime, with a national trend of an 8 per cent rise.

In Wiltshire there was an overall increase of 18.8 per cent.

Only four police forces in England and Wales had a larger increase in recorded crime than Wiltshire, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics.

The largest increase in specific crime in Wiltshire was in public order offences which increased 153 per cent from 2015.

Other increases were possession of weapons offences (53 per cent), violence against the person (42 per cent) and robbery (19 per cent).

The only crime category to see a decrease in reports was drug offences, which fell 7per cent compared to last year, figures showed.

Sexual offences also saw an increase, with 15 per cent more offences recorded than in 2015.

Wiltshire police chief constable Mike Veale said: "We have seen an increase in the number of sexual offences we record, which comes as a result of not just better recording practice but also increased confidence by victims in reporting offences.

"High profile cases and numerous public inquiries seem to have made people more aware and more empowered in coming forward with allegations when it comes to sexual offences over the last year or so".

Wiltshire police commissioner Angus Macpherson said he was planning to discuss this increase in sexual offences with Mr Veale due to the seriousness of the crimes, and that he may need "to allocate more resources to tackling such crimes" in his next police and crime plan.

But Mr Macpherson said it was "important to stress" the rise in recorded crime does not reflect a rise in actual crime and has come about as a result of better crime recording practices.

For example, where some incidents have previously been recorded as anti-social behaviour, they are now being recorded as crime, such as violence without injury or public order offences.

Mr Macpherson said: "What we know is that calls from the public for the services of Wiltshire police have stayed stable and, in some categories, gone down.

"What has changed, as we have been stressing over the past month in our #DidYouKnow campaign (which aimed to raise awareness of crime recording), is that the force is now recording offences far more accurately than in the past."

Mr Veale said: "The changes in the numbers of recorded crimes do not make Wiltshire and Swindon any less of a safe place to live.

"Ultimately, it is important that we record crime as accurately as possible so we know we can deploy resources to the right places at the right time to deliver the service that the public deserves and expects."

Hampshire had the same increase as Wiltshire (19 per cent), but Dorset had a slightly lower increase of 15 per cent.