A DATA website has revealed Colchester’s top crime hotspots.

Figures from Data.Police.UK revealed the area around Boxted Road was the top crime hotspot in the borough in December with 27 recorded incidents.

The data shows out of 1,750 crimes recorded in Colchester by Essex Police, anti-social behaviour makes up 544 of those cases.

The data provided is the approximate location of a crime, not the exact place that it occurred due to location anonymisation.

Around Boxted Road in December, there was one reported case of anti-social behaviour, 11 public order offences and 15 crimes involving violence or sexual offences.

Read more >>> Revealed: Colchester areas with the highest levels of crime

Mile End councillor Martin Goss, who also manages the neighbourhood watch in the area, challenged the figures saying they could be inflated by the close proximity of two specialist care centres and new housing.

“Boxted Road only has about 80 houses on it,” he said.

“Nearby there is the St Aubyn Centre, which has vulnerable children and young adults who have complex needs.

“There will be issues related to mental health, and they also have on-site vulnerable adults of around the age of 18. There could be occasional issues which get reported.

“There is also a specialist hospital, which is caters to special needs and possibly some patients who need acute 24 hour care.

“Not on purpose or through any malicious intent, there could well be issues between staff and patients which are reported as crimes.”

Read more >>> Every crime reported in Colchester in December

He added: “You need to establish what is on or near these roads. There has been the building of housing off Boxted Heath, there is also new housing on the nearby Chesterwell development.

“If you were to analyse the data and not just lump it all on one road, and if you spoke to residents, they would say the same thing that this figure does not add up unless you take the surrounding area into account.”

Several road areas recorded 11 crimes in December, for example around North Station Road, where crimes included anti-social behaviour and criminal damage.

Other hotspots included Quayside Drive, where 11 crimes were recorded for anti-social behaviour, drug offences and violence or sexual offences.

The Chase, in Greenstead, also saw a reported 11 crimes, split between drug offences, anti-social behaviour, public order offences and crimes involving violence.

An Essex Police spokesman said: "Overall crime in Colchester continues to fall as the district remains a safe place to live, work, and study.

"In the year to the end of January, there were more than 2,100 crimes reported here – that’s a drop of 11 percent.

"We’ve seen fewer violence with injury offences, sexual offences, robberies, burglaries, vehicle break-ins, and vehicle thefts in the last year.

"And many of these crime types were falling even before the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Throughout the pandemic our officers have continued to be out across the county, protecting and serving Essex.

"They continue to carry out positive, proactive work to take drugs and weapons off our streets, carrying out warrants and dismantling entire county lines gangs.

"This is highlighted by the increase in the number of drugs offences we’ve recorded.

"And we continue to invest to support victims, protect vulnerable people, tackle violence, and increase visibility.

"Our force continues to grow and by next March we will have more than 3,369 brave men and women keeping you safe.

"Through our innovative ‘We Value Difference’ recruitment campaign we’re attracting people from more diverse backgrounds so our force looks like the communities we represent.

"On top of that, we have the second largest Special Constabulary in the country and that’s growing too."