Police have said that North Yorkshire remains the safest place to live in the country despite a rise in crime - particularly stalking and harassment as well as public order offences.

New figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) for 2019 showed that North Yorkshire Police recorded 47,929 crimes, which is 9% higher than the year before.

The county seems slightly out of step with the rest of the country, which recorded a drop in overall crime by 5%.  Greater Manchester Police was not included in the data set because of issues with its new IT system.

Stalking and harassment crimes, as well as public order offences, went up significantly by 39% and 36% respectively. When questioned by the Stray Ferret, a spokesperson for North Yorkshire Police said they were not able to add anything to their statement.

The Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Julia Morgan, however, believes that the crime increases are partly down to better recording of offences but said that she was "particularly worried by the rise in violent crime and robbery."

One of the biggest issues in the Harrogate district remains drugs. An exclusive report in March by the Stray Ferret uncovered that school children "can get drugs in their lunch break." Police in the town said at the time tackling county lines drugs was their highest priority.

Broken down into the main categories, the ONS figures for North Yorkshire show:

• Violence against the person has increased by 22% (16,794) broken down into:


• Homicide remains unchanged (6 in total)


• Violence with injury has increased by 14% (6,258)


• Violence without injury has increased by 22% (6,702)


• Stalking and harassment has increased by 39% (3,811)


• Death or serious injury – unlawful driving remains unchanged (17)


• Sexual offences have increased by 6% (1,988)


• Robbery has increased by 13% (242)


• Theft offences remain unchanged (17,066) broken down into:


• Burglary has increased by 3% (3,925)


• Theft from the person remains unchanged (477)


• Shoplifting has increased by 4% (4,642)


• All other theft offences remain unchanged (4,663)


• Drug offences have increased by 6% (1,662)


• Possession of weapons offences has increased by 3% (320)


• Public order offences have increased by 36% (3,009)


• Miscellaneous crimes against society have increased by 25% (1,016)


• Bicycle theft has decreased by 9% (1,072)


• Vehicle offences have decreased by 7% (2,287)


• Criminal damage and arson has decreased by 3% (5,832)