Violent crime hits ten-year high in Yorkshire

Police have registered sharp increases in knife and gun crime across the country, amid mounting concern over spiralling levels of violence.

South Yorkshire, which has been plagued by criminal gangs in recent months, saw violent crime increase by 57 per cent last year, the second-highest rise in England and Wales after Durham.

South Yorkshire Police’s Assistant Chief Constable Tim Forber said the force was committed to tackling crime but recognised there was “still work to do in ensuring the county is a safer place”.

He said: “We know that knife crime, and other types of armed criminality, are of particular concern to members of the community and I’d like to stress that these issues are an absolute priority for the force.

“We have a number of dedicated operations, campaigns and partner agency work ongoing to tackle these crimes and make it clear that carrying a weapon on the streets of South Yorkshire will not be tolerated.”

The force recently made a U-turn on a decision to scrap its neighbourhood officers, with chiefs saying that they had lost a vital source of grassroots intelligence.

While that decision was not prompted by rising crime levels, police commissioner Alan Billings said, it now made it look all the more timely.

He said: “We have returned to neighbourhood policing but there is no increase in the number of officers, so the officers are having to come from somewhere.”