Posted by BBC News 22.1.9

 

Robberies at knife point have risen by almost a fifth, according to official figures for England and Wales.

Domestic burglaries jumped 4% - the first significant rise for some years.

The Home Office figures for the three months to September 2008 indicate that total recorded crime continues to fall - down 3% over the quarter.

 

The figures come after the Home Office named 18 police forces involved in a row over the miscounting of some serious violence.

According to the British Crime Survey - a mass study of the experience of those surveyed rather than reports to the police - the risk of being a victim of crime remained at 23%.

Within that, the level of overall violent crime was said to be stable.

But crimes recorded by the police showed significant increases in some key areas, including home break-ins, violence related to knives or sharp instruments, and drugs.

The rise in burglaries was the largest for seven years.