RECORDED crimes in Surrey have soared from 48,000 to 70,000 over the last three years, with increases in burglary, theft, sexual offences, violence without injury, vehicle crime and fraud.

The quarterly figures for police forces in England and Wales compiled by the Office for National Statistics, published last week, show a year on year total increase of 14 per cent in Surrey in the period ending June this year.

Earlier this year, a freedom of information request responded to by 30 police forces, revealed nine out of 10 burglaries are left unsolved in the UK, with just seven per cent of stolen goods recovered from £2 billion of valuables taken from homes and businesses in two million break ins between 2011 and 2016.

This week, Waverley Neighbourhood Watch reported “too many burglaries” over the summer in the Farnham area and a worrying rise in cold caller scams in Haslemere.

Describing the latest figures as a “very large increase”, Surrey Police Crime Commissioner David Munro stressed the importance of understanding the reasons behind the recent rise.

Police have encouraged victims to come forward and there has been a large increase in reports of domestic violence, rape and sexual offences, child abuse and hate crime.

Reporting of offences which have happened in the past have increased, particularly in relation to crimes such as child abuse and sexual offences, where several high profile cases have prompted people to come forward.

New crimes added to the national statistics include harassment and stalking. An improvement in recording standards and data accuracy has ensured more reported crime is accurately reflected in statistics, while some incidents previously recorded as anti-social behaviour are now being recorded as a crime.

“As the representative for the people of Surrey, I am as concerned as anyone about the recent increase in recorded crime across the county,” Mr Munro said. “We have seen rises in areas such as burglary, vehicle crime and particularly online fraud which the Force are working hard to tackle.

“But those other factors such as the recording of new crimes, better recording practices and increased confidence from victims to report offences should also be taken into account when considering why crime has risen. Reports of domestic violence, sexual offences and child abuse are increasing and this should be welcomed in many respects as we are beginning to see the true extent of some of these crimes which may have previously remained hidden.”

Responding, Assistant Chief Constable Nev Kemp said: “We are pleased to see that, in the majority of categories where there has been a national increase, the increase in Surrey is below the national average.

“In June we alerted the public that for the first time in 10 years domestic burglaries in Surrey started to increase during the second half of the last financial year. Targeted activity has resulted in some significant arrests, an organised crime group of 15 offenders responsible for a spate of burglaries across the county are currently serving prison sentences.

“We have also seen an increase in ‘possession of weapons’ offences up 54 per cent, compared to a national average of 24 per cent. To reassure the public, we have seen a decline in the number of offences where a knife was used, suggesting more people have been caught carrying knives, but not necessarily using them.”

Over the last year, an additional 410 bike thefts were reported and, although there has been a decline in drug offences in England and Wales, Surrey has seen an increase of three per cent.

Neighbourhood Watch Waverley (NHW) multi-scheme administrator Malcolm Taylor said: “There do seem to be too many burglaries in the Farnham area over the summer period. In Godalming, Haslemere and Cranleigh areas, burglary seems to have reduced over the same period.

“Police in Surrey with support of Sussex Police arrested a gang of very active burglars in the last two months, and as a result burglary has gone down substantially

“One area of annoyance is the increase of dreaded ‘Nottingham Knockers’. They are quite intimidating in certain area of the borough, but mainly in Haslemere and also in Cranleigh. We advise placing a sticker in the door window and, if you are suspicious about the caller ‘Don’t Open the Door’. Our elderly community members find this type of intrusion quite frightening.

“We are trying to assist the police in any way we can, by involving ourselves in our local community looking out for potential problems, advising NHW members about any criminal activity within the local area and encouraging members to take every opportunity to safeguard their own property.

“Things are changing throughout the county and NHW intend to get involved with two major new areas, missing persons and cyber crime, which we have not been so involved before and which we believe we can really have an impact.

“In Surrey every day between 20 to 30 people, including children, go missing and when fully up and running NHW can supply several thousand individuals looking for them. Cyber crime is everywhere and growing every day. NHW feel we have the capacity to assist and help the community with the safeguards that can make it far more difficult. Once again we feel we can really make a difference.”

*A Surrey Police advert that discouraged people from calling 999 over a baby crying was banned yesterday by the Advertising Standards Authority, which described it as “socially irresponsible” as it gave no “clear cut” indication of whether or not harm was being inflicted.

The Force said it was part of a wider campaign developed following analysis that the public often didn’t know who to call about what - evidenced by the 10,000 calls received by Surrey Police over a year on “issues that do not require police involvement, and in most cases are better dealt with by another appropriate authority such as local government”.