Revealed: Violence and vehicle theft on the rise in Cannock Chase

The latest statistics for the district reveal violent crimes spiked from an average of 75 per month in 2015 to 105 per month in the first 11 months of 2016 - an increase of 40 per cent.

In total, there were an average of 504 crimes a month in Cannock Chase in 2016 (6,046 in 12 months) – 48 more than a typical month in 2015 (5,455 in total).

While some incidents, such as drug-related offences, have fallen, violent crimes in particular, including racially aggravated attacks and common assaults, have risen.

In 2015 there were a total of 902 violent incidents – a monthly average of 75 – but between January and November last year there were 1,156 – a monthly average of 105.

In October last year robberies spiked to 10, while they had remained relatively low at less than one a week since 2014.

In the same month public disorder offences were also at their highest point in the last two years, with 45 incidents reported, the next highest being 25 in March.

There has also been a sharp rise in motor vehicles stolen.

A total of 79 were taken in 2015 – an average of seven a month – but that number jumped to 115 for the 11 months last year – more than 10 a month.

The number of incidents where people stole from vehicles decreased. In 2015 there were 312 offences falling to 240 between January and November.

Police will also have welcomed falling numbers in drug offences. There were an average of 12 in 2016 compared to 15 the year before.

Asked why the area had seen an increase in crime, Cannock's local policing team commander Geoff Knight said: "Some of this is due to an increased confidence in crime reporting - we are embedded into local communities and where previously crime has probably not been reported in the past people have more confidence in local police.

"Another reason is that more crime is recorded where police carry out proactive work and make more arrests.

"These arrests, if they lead to charges, create additional crime numbers so in this sense by taking robust and positive action against persons committing public order offences we increase the crime figures.

"New offences have also been created and the way in which we record crimes is ever changing."