THE number of reports of people carrying weapons in Colchester has doubled in the past year.

According to data released by the Office of National Statistics, there were 120 weapons possession offences reported to police between April 2017 and March 2018.

The figure is up on the same dates in 2016-17 when 62 incidents were recorded - a spike of 93.5 per cent.

The statistics are based on crimes reported to the police.

Each incident can include weapons such as knives, handguns and corrosive liquids.

Robberies also increased with 93 recorded by the police in the year ending March 2017, but the number rose to 149 in Colchester for the 12 months up to March.

Overall, police recorded crime in Colchester increased in 2017-18.

During the last year 15,278 crimes were recorded, up by 21 per cent on 2016-17.

That means there was a rate of 80 crimes per 1,000 residents during 2017-18, slightly below the England and Wales average of 82.

In Colchester, there were 524 incidents of sexual crimes recorded in 2017-18, a 25 per cent rise on the previous year, when 421 crimes were reported but experts say it is difficult to judge because of victims of historic cases now coming forward.

A spokesman for Essex Police said: "Today’s crime statistics show that some types of crime are increasing nationally, including in Essex.

"Levels of crime right across the county are similar to the average for England and Wales, meaning Colchester remains a safe part of the country.

"Crime in Colchester is lower than the national average, but we are particularly concerned about increases in violent crime and sexual offences which are rising in Colchester and across the country.

"That’s why we’ve invested in specialist teams and it’s why 150 more police officers will be on Essex streets in the next year.

"One third of all violent crime are not happening on streets but are domestic violence offences happening in homes.

"The rise in other violent crime is being tackled by teams like our Operation Raptor teams. 

"Between January and December 2017, the North Operation Raptor team -which covers Chelmsford, Colchester, Tendring, Braintree and Uttlesford – locked up drug dealers in their area for a collective total of more than 109 years.

"During 2017 the team also seized £46,000 worth of Class A and B drugs, seized £25,000 in criminal cash, seized 47 weapons and arrested 106 people suspected of being involved in drug and gang crime.

"A four per cent reduction in burglary, the only police area in the East of England to have fewer burglaries in the last year, is something that means communities in Essex are safer.

"Every crime is bad for victims to experience and causes fear in communities, but the data also shows how rare they are.

"Around nine people in every 1,000 people living in Colchester experienced violence with injury crime in the last year with just 0.6 possession of weapons offences recorded for every 1,000 people in the borough.

"The best way to stop crime is to prevent it from happening in the first place. We have a range of crime prevention advice on our website at https://www.essex.police.uk/advice/"