THE increase in crime in Wiltshire is slowing according to the county’s police force, despite alarming statistics that suggest otherwise.

A report by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) published this week shows a rise in domestic burglary in the year to March 2017 of 21.7 per cent and a rise in theft from vehicles by 29.3 per cent in Wiltshire.

However the force says they are not being ‘complacent’ in the face of the figures as the county’s nine per cent increase in recorded crime is slower than the national figure of 10 per cent.

Wiltshire Police say the spikes in burglary and vehicle crime figures can be explained by a dramatic improvement in the quality of crime recording.

Police and crime commissioner Angus Macpherson said: “The early introduction of ethical crime recording and improved recording has given Wiltshire Police a better understanding of crime across the county and how to respond.

“I am reassured to see the nine percent increase in recorded crime in Wiltshire is below the national picture of ten per cent.

“Wiltshire Police is consistently working to improve recording practices, and I am pleased that as other police forces change their recording practices and accuracy improves, we are now beginning to see the increase in recorded crime slowing and the data stabilising.

“Earlier this year I welcomed HMIC to carry out their first crime data integrity inspection, and I look forward to receiving their report.

“Although I continue to highlight the increases in crime as being reflective of recording practices, at no point am I, or the Chief Constable becoming complacent.

“The Force has recognised the increase in domestic burglary and vehicle crime, and I am pleased to see the Force is responding to the concerns that I and the wider community have about these crimes.

Assistant chief constable Kier Pritchard said: “Although the increase in recorded crime is slowing, we are by no means becoming complacent when it comes to tackling criminality.

“We were one of the first police forces in the country to dramatically improve our crime recording compliance and we are now starting to see this positive change reflected in the recorded crime statistics.

“Clearly, having a stricter approach to recording crime means this will impact on the figures.

“It is vital that our recording practices paint a true picture of crime in the county, to enable us to allocate the right resources in the right places.

“We identified burglary as an emerging issue prior to this report being published and we’ve been focusing on how we respond to these crimes appropriately; making sure we deploy the right resources, identifying links between burglaries and ensuring that all investigative lines of enquiry are followed.