Violent crimes have risen in Maldon over the last year, despite a drop in recorded crimes across England.

Nationwide coronavirus restrictions have led to most crimes plummeting nationally over the year- although drug offences rose by nearly a third during lockdown- the Officer for National Statistics said.

Essex Police recorded 1,632 incidents of violent crime in Maldon in the 12 months to June, according to the ONS.

That was an increase of 15% compared to the previous year.

One of the main factors behind the increase in Maldon was the rise in violence without injury, which rose by 28%, from 508 incidents to 648.

Offences of violence with injury meanwhile increased by 1% to 367.

Overall, police recorded 4% fewer crimes across England and Wales, with around 5.8 million offences recorded in the year to June.

Billy Gazard, from the ONS centre for crime and justice, said the drop in crime over the year could mainly be put down to changes during the coronavirus lockdown, but said police recording of drug offences “increased sharply throughout the April to June period, reflecting proactive police activity as overall crime levels reduced”.

“There are indications that crime levels in June were moving back towards pre-lockdown levels,” he added.

The total number of offences in Maldon increased by 1%, with police recording 3,599 crimes over the course of the year.

This puts the overall crime rate at 55.4 per 1,000 people, compared to a national average of 84.7.