Police recorded an average of two dozen violent crimes a DAY in Milton Keynes last year

The crimes, which include offences of harrasment and stalking, were reported in the 12 months leading up to March, according to the Office for National Statistics.

This is an increase of 17 per cent compared to the previous year.

But with no official crime statistics yet published for the coronavirus lockdown period, police chiefs say their own figures show overall crime remains far below normal levels.

At 32.8 crimes per 1,000 people, the MK rate was slightly higher than the rate across England and Wales, which stood at 29.9.

One of the main factors behind the increase in Milton Keynes was the rise in stalking and harassment, which rose by 50 per cent, from 1,427 incidents to 2,146.

Offences of violence with injury increased by seven per cent and violence without injury by 10 per cent, reaching 2,720 and 3,941 respectively.

There were also five homicides, which include murders and manslaughters, down by one on the previous 12 months.

Overall, police recorded three per cent more crime across England and Wales, where there were almost 5.8 million offences in the year to March.

This excludes crime recorded by Greater Manchester Police, whose data was compromised after the installation of new IT software.

The increase was largely driven by rises in stalking and harassment and fraud and computer misuse, which both jumped by 12 per cent.

However, the ONS said stalking and harassment figures may have been affected by improvements in the way police record crime, which could explain the large increase.

The ONS said crime figures were largely unaffected by the coronavirus pandemic, as the period covered was mostly pre-lockdown.

However, the National Police Chiefs' Council says its own provisional figures, which cover the four weeks to July 5, show crime has fallen by 14 per cent compared to the same period last year.

This was the fourth update in crime trends the council has released since the beginning of lockdown restrictions, with this month's figures showing the smallest year-on-year drop so far.

Previous updates had shown recorded crime was down by 28 per cent for the four weeks to April 12, 25 per cent down for the four weeks to May 10, and 18% down in the four weeks to June 7.

While marked reductions were seen in residential burglaries, rape, vehicle crime and shoplifting, incidents of domestic abuse rose by six per cent.

NPCC lead for crime, Chief Constable Andy Cooke, said: “The vast majority of the public continue to follow the rules in place to limit the spread of the virus, and as a result, we have seen sustained reductions in crime over the course of the lockdown period.

"It is no surprise that as more people are able to move around freely, we will begin to see movement towards previous levels. However, this is a gradual change."

Previous reductions in reports of rape appeared to be slowing, he added, suggesting they may soon return to 2019 levels.

He said: "This is likely to be a combination of increased opportunities for wider social contact and easing of restrictions, making it easier for victims to report rape and assault.

“Please report to us if you have been a victim of rape, assault or domestic abuse – wherever or whenever it happened.

"We will do all we can to investigate and there are many excellent organisations who can provide support and advice."

The total number of offences in Milton Keynes increased by 14%, with police recording 27,459 crimes over the course of the year.

This puts the overall crime rate at 102.2 per 1,000 people, compared to a national average of 88.9.

Other crimes recorded in Milton Keynes included:

798 sexual offences, a rise of four per cent

11,594 theft offences, a rise of 12 per cent

2,887 incidents of criminal damage and arson, up 10 per cent

776 drug offences, up 36 per cent

298 possession of weapons such as firearms or knives, up 29 per cent

1,484 public order offences, up 20 per cent.