VIOLENT crime is on the rise in Maldon district as figures show Essex Police are dealing with almost 100 more cases than the same time last year.

An Essex Police performance summary reveals that the district has seen a four per cent rise in cases between the start of the year and August 31.

Included in that is a 27 per cent rise in the cases of violence against a person.

From January 1 to August 31 there were 465 incidents of violence in the Maldon district, including 175 cases of causing injury, 289 cases of not causing injury, and one homicide. That is up from 367 the previous year.

While more violent crime is happening, the solve rate of the incidents is falling.

In 2016, Essex Police solved 23 per cent of the violence cases that happened between January and September. This year, that number has fallen to 21 per cent.

Chief Insp Ronnie Egan, District Commander for Chelmsford and Maldon, said: “Crime is rising across the country and we cannot ignore that fact. Our increases are also the lowest in the East of England.

“Our officers and staff work every day to make sure Essex remains a safe county and crime here is lower than the national average with 69 offences recorded for every 1,000 people living in the county.”

The number of burglaries in the district has reduced by 25 per cent, from 216 to 161, and 20 of those have been solved compared with just two in 2016.

Mrs Egan added: “We had an issue with burglaries across the two districts and it was something we had to tackle. Work by our officers to tackle burglaries in the Chelmsford and Maldon districts is bearing fruit with fewer crimes reported and more suspects identified.”