CRIME rose by 14 per cent in a year in Dorset, the latest police figures show.

The latest crime in England and Wales survey figures are from the 12 months ending September 2016.

The figures show that the number of crimes committed in Dorset rose by 14 per cent when compared with the year ending September 2015.

This means that 43,738 crimes were committed during this time, compared with 38,334 the previous year.

Last year the crime survey asked questions on fraud and computer misuse for the first time and have now been included in data for a full 12 months.

These show that there 2,749 fraud offences were referred to Action Fraud in the Dorset Police area, a reduction of 26 per cent on the previous year.

The bulk of the crime in Dorset was made up of theft, with 19,482 acts of theft committed in the year ending September 2016.

Dorset Police said that the rise is similar to the national picture.

A spokesman said: "The 14 per cent increase is in line with national trends across England and Wales, with rises seen in most police force areas.

"As a consequence of improved practice, the Force is publishing increases in total crime which is due to a greater emphasis being placed on accuracy.

"Dorset Police has worked hard to improve its compliance with the complex Home Office Counting Rules, and to ensure the public are confident to report crime. This followed recommendations made by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) around data integrity in 2014.

"The rise demonstrates that the Force is fully committed to meeting the very high standards set out by the government on crime recording, which are inspected through HM Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC)."

The biggest rise for an individual crime was for "violence without injury" which rose 67 per cent to 7,974 offences, from 4,772 the previous year.

All categories of crime classed violence against the person rose 39 per cent, from 8,806 to 12,216.

However, the number of vehicle offences fell by nine per cent from 3,796 to 3,462 with bike thefts falling 12 per cent from 1,151 to 1,010.

Drug offences also fell by one per cent from 1,687 to 1,663.

Thefts from the person rose by 41 per cent to 666 from 471 and public order offences rose 45 per cent from to 1,608 from 1,107.