GUN and knife possession offences in Herefordshire rose by 10 to 101 incidents year-on-year, according to the latest police recorded figures.

Although this is a significant increase, crime in the county overall has increased by only 1.3 per cent.

Overall there were 10,608 reported offences between April 2017 and March 2018, data from the Office for National Statistics shows.

That means there was a rate of 56 crimes per 1,000 residents during 2017-18, below the England and Wales average of 82.

The statistics are based on crimes reported to the police, and the ONS urges caution in interpreting some of these figures.

Some offences go unreported while others may be more numerous due to a change in the focus of the police or greater public attention.

However the ONS believes crimes such as burglary and car theft, which are generally well reported and recorded, have genuinely increased.

There were 663 residential burglaries reported in 2017-18. Due to a change in how the ONS categorises burglaries, the localised figures cannot be compared with other years.

There have been two homicides, which are murders or manslaughters. There were 11 cases of death or injury by dangerous driving.

Theft, one of the most high volume crimes, has slightly decreased by 2 per cent. Drugs related offences dropped by 18.9 per cent.

Criminal damage, which includes arson and vandalising cars and houses, has gone up, from 1,352 incidents in 2016-17, to 1,366 in the latest figures.

While violence with injury, which includes assault, GBH and wounding, has dropped, however it is tough to judge as police recording in this area has improved over the last couple of years.

Similarly sexual crime statistics are hard to judge as many more victims are now coming forward due to a series of high profile cases.

In Herefordshire there were 480 incidents recorded in 2017-18, a 7 per cent rise on the previous year, when 448 crimes were reported.

There were also 814 cases of stalking and harassment reported over the same period.

Caroline Youell, from the ONS, said: "Most people don’t experience crime. The figures show a fairly stable picture in England and Wales for most crime types. It is too early to say if this is a change to the long-term declining trend.

"We have seen continued increases in some theft offences such as vehicle-related theft and burglary, while computer viruses have fallen.

"There have been increases in some lower-volume 'high-harm' offences such as homicide and knife crime, consistent with rises over the past three years. However, the latest rise in gun crime is much smaller than previously seen."