All home burglaries in Dorset will be attended by a police office under new measures announced.

Every police chief in England and Wales signed up to the pledge at last week's meeting of the National Police Chiefs' Council

It comes after figures from the Office for National Statistics revealed there had been a 26.9 per cent increase in residential burglaries in Dorset over the past five years.

Data showed that 1,876 out of 2,808 burglaries in the year to March 2022 were classed as 'residential burglaries' - up 7.4 per cent on 1,747 in the year to March 2021.

In the year to March 2017, there were 1,478 burglaries in the, what was then called, 'domestic burglaries' category.

The Bridport local policing area, including Bridport, Lyme Regis and surrounding villages, recorded 107 incidents of burglary, residential and non-residential, in the 12 months to July 2022 and a total of 259 in the period from August 2019 until July 2022.

Up until now, some forces already had a policy of attending all home burglaries. Others attended where it had been established that there are evidential lines of enquiry or where victims are vulnerable or elderly.

Responding to the news, Dorset's police and crime commissioner, David Sidwick, said: "I very much welcome this new agreement - responding to crimes that matter is what most people expect from the police.

Being a victim of burglary can be devastating and as a PCC, I know that residents expect the police to be deployed to and investigate such crimes."

National Police Chiefs’ Council Chair Martin Hewitt, said: “The number of burglaries is at an all-time low, down 51 per cent over the past decade due to increased investment by police and partners in preventing them happening in the first place.

“Wherever you live in England and Wales you can be confident the police will attend if you experience the invasion of a home burglary. This should see more burglaries solved and more offenders prosecuted.”

Chief constables will work to ensure this commitment is implemented as soon as practically possible. They will prioritise attendance where people’s homes have been burgled, as opposed to outbuildings and garden sheds.

National Police Chiefs’ Council Lead for Burglary, Deputy Chief Constable Alex Franklin-Smith, said: "“Burglary has a significant and long-lasting effect on victims. Police officers up and down the country are committed to bringing more offenders to justice and this decision will bring greater consistency across England and Wales in the way we respond to, and investigate, offences of burglary.

“We will work closely with the College of Policing to improve investigative standards and we will continue to invest in the important preventative work with our many partners in an effort to keep offending levels at an all-time low.”