Rise in sex offences in Wyre

Lancashire Constabulary recorded 249 incidents of sexual offences in Wyre in the 12 months to December, according to the Office for National Statistics.

That was an increase of 29% compared to the previous year.

At 2.2 crimes per 1,000 people, that was slightly lower than the rate across England and Wales, which stood at 3.1.

Around 6.1 million offences were recorded across England and Wales in the year to December, including computer fraud and computer misuse.

This was up 8% from 5.6 million in 2020, but roughly the same number as recorded in the 12 months to March 2020, before the coronavirus pandemic.

The number of sex crimes logged by police forces across the two nations reached another record high for recorded crime over the last year.