Crime has risen over the last year in Flintshire, official police records reveal.

North Wales Police recorded 13,041 offences in Flintshire in the 12 months to June, according to the Office for National Statistics.

That was an increase of 10% compared to the previous year, when there were 11,830.

However, at 83.1 crimes per 1,000 people, that was lower than the rate across England and Wales, which stood at 91.3.

Crimes recorded in Flintshire included:

499 sexual offences, a rise of 12%

6,185 violent offences, a rise of 9%

1,494 incidents of criminal damage and arson, up 10%

279 drug offences, down 6%

75 possession of weapons such as firearms or knives, an increase of 24

1,963 public order offences, up 27%

2,230 theft offences, a rise of 5%

2,725 stalking and harassment offences, up 15%

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Yet the increase is nothing to be concerned about say North Wales Police, who put the uplift in crime down to improved recording of incidents. 

Superintendent Nick Evans, from North Wales Police said: “As a force, we are committed to preventing and reducing crime and part of achieving this comes through ensuring our crime data is as accurate as possible.

“As such, over the past 12 months, we have undertaken detailed auditing of crime recording figures, which has enabled us to improve accuracy in all areas of crime data reporting. In turn, that has enhanced and informed our policing response.

“Accurate crime recording promotes trust and confidence in our communities and allows us to plan our resourcing accordingly.

“Throughout this 12-month period there has also been a concerted focus on improving the victim’s journey through the organisation, to ensure that victims are satisfied with the service they receive.

“Central to this objective is our audit plan to check crime recording accuracy, which focuses on the crimes that have the biggest impact on victims.

“Through improving the identification of these offences, we have improved the service victims receive from our officers. However, in doing so, there has been a notable uplift in the number of crime types being recorded and generally recording overall.”