REPORTS of crime have increased over the past year in north Essex, new figures show.

Essex Police recorded 18,880 in Colchester and 14,166 offences in the Tendring district within the 12 months to March, the Office for National Statistics has revealed.

For Colchester, this is a 17 per cent year-on-year increase while in Tendring, this marked an increase of eight per cent when compared to the previous year.

As a result, both Tendring and Colchester's crime rates - 96.1 and 95.7 per 1,000 people, respectively - were higher than the national figure of 89.3.

The extent to which the coronavirus pandemic impacted the amount of crimes being committed in the year start March 2020, however, should be considered.

Of the crimes recorded in Tendring over the past year, 577 were sexual offences, which makes for an increase of 30 per cent from the year before.

Colchester has also seen a vast growth of 59 per cent in the number of sexual offences reported, recording 862 in total.

A spokesman for Essex Police said: "We have specialist teams in place which deal with sexual offences. 

"We have the highest number of solved outcomes for rape and other sexual offences in the eastern region.

"The number of domestic-related and historical offences have increased since 2019 - this is the primary reason for the increased reporting. 

"It also suggests more victims are gaining confidence to come forward and report offences to us – when they feel able to do so – particularly offences that occurred in their past."

Violent crime has also risen in the two areas, with Tendring experience an influx from 6,382 to 7,044, while Colchester's number of violent crimes grew from 7 ,444 to 8,651.

According to the finds, one of the main factors behind the increases was the rise in violence with injury, which rose by 17 per cent, from 1,311 incidents to 1,539.

Furthermore, theft offences rose by 11 per cent in Tendring and 27 per cent in Colchester.

A police spokesman added: "Incidents of violence are also a force wide priority and teams are in place to tackle the causes of that. 

"Unfortunately, incidents such as that can often be linked to gangs and county lines, but can also be linked to organised crime."