OFFICIAL figures suggest violent crime has increased by 80 per cent in Surrey over the past two years and 48 per cent during 2015 alone.

The new stats released by the Home Office show that in 2015, 17,143 violent crimes such as domestic abuse, assault and murder were recorded in Surrey – compared to 11,539 in 2014 and just 9,480 in 2013.

Overall crime rates also rose in Surrey from 85,523 cases in 2014, to 91,457 in 2015 – an increase of seven per cent.

It comes after The Herald reported in January that the total number of recorded offences in Waverley borough had increased by nine per cent since last April.

Paul Kennedy, the Lib Dem candidate standing for election as Surrey Police and Crime Commissioner in May, said: “People will be incredibly concerned to learn of this massive rise in violent crime.

In just two years recorded violent crimes have risen by 80 per cent in Surrey. The rise is far too big to be entirely explained away by claims the police have got better at recording crime.

“What’s absolutely disgraceful about this is our current Police and Crime Commissioner Kevin Hurley only recently publicly celebrated what he called “another really good year”.

“He must be on another planet. And this is on top of a series of critical reports recently that have slammed both Surrey Police and the county council for their failure to properly safeguard vulnerable people, including children and victims of rape and sexual assault.”

Last month, Surrey Police were one of 18 forces in England and Wales told it “required improvement” by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC).

The force was rated good at preventing crime and anti-social behaviour and keeping people safe, but required improvement in how it investigated crime and managed offenders, and also in the way it tackled serious and organised crime.

In December, HMIC also rated Surrey “inadequate” at protecting the vulnerable from harm and supporting victims.

Responding to his election rival’s criticism, Mr Hurley said: “It is ludicrous to suggest the people of Surrey have gone crime mad. They are for the most part decent, law-abiding people.

“This rise in violent crime is replicated the increase across the whole country and is a direct result of two things. Firstly, the way crime is recorded and categorised has changed, and secondly, more and more victims of domestic violence and sexual assault are now coming forward to report it to Surrey Police.

“This alone shows how much more confident they are in the high quality service they will receive.

“Surrey Police are now solving greater numbers of crimes of violence and sexual violence than they have in the last few years. Surrey is still a very safe place.”

The force has also defended its record on tackling crime, stressing it takes violent crime, and particularly domestic abuse, “extremely seriously” and it remains a priority for the force.

A force spokesman added: “The latest statistics demonstrate that the national issue of police forces seeing an increase in reports of violent offences is also reflected in Surrey. National changes around number of offences now being categorised as violent crimes when they had not been previously has in part led to a rise in the overall number of violent crimes.

“The other significant factor is victims of domestic abuse are increasingly confident to report incidents and engage with officers and partner agencies in the knowledge they will be listened to and action will be taken.”

Mr Hurley announced this week the force has taken on additional police probationers – raising the total number of officers higher than it has been in four years, despite Surrey receiving one of the smallest government funding grants in the UK.

He said: “In a time of austerity and budget cuts when all other police forces in the south have seen officer numbers slashed, we in Surrey have recently recruited and are training probationers, who will raise our complement higher than it has been since I was elected in 2012.

“We now have 1,944 officers whereas in 2012 there were 1,940.

“I am proud to say that by making it my priority to fund the things people tell me are most important, we can better ensure Surrey remains one of the safest places to live in England.”

But despite the influx of probationers in the county, the number of staff supporting front-line officers has dramatically decreased in recent years.

In 2012, the year Mr Hurley was elected PCC, Surrey Police employed 228 Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) and 345 Special Constables.

Home Office figures show those numbers dropped to 123 PCSOs and 122 Specials last year. Back office staff numbers have also dramatically decreased over the same period, with a further 400 non-uniformed jobs set to go with the introduction of the force’s new Policing in Your Neighbourhood model introduced next month.