Crime has fallen over the last year in Colchester, official police records reveal.

Essex Police recorded 16,207 offences in Colchester in the 12 months to March, according to the Office for National Statistics.

That was a decrease of 14 per cent compared to the previous year, when there were 18,939.

At 83.2 crimes per 1,000 people, that was higher than the rate across England and Wales, which stood at 77.6.

There were 1,062 drug offences, up 16 per cent on the year before. 

Here the Gazette has put together a map plotting where every drug offence was reported in Colchester between January and May this year. 

You can use the map to search for areas across the borough. 

It also tells you the latest information on whether a caution was issued or the case is going to court. 

Read more >> Revealed: Where every crime was reported in Colchester in one month

Other rimes recorded in Colchester in March included:

  • 547 sexual offences, a decrease of 16%
  • 7,467 violent offences, a decrease of 3%
  • 1,523 incidents of criminal damage and arson, down 23%
  • 132 possession of weapons such as firearms or knives, down 19%
  • 1,807 public order offences, down 1%
  • 3,203 theft offences, down 38%
  • 2,933 stalking and harassment offences, up 17%

The ONS said the annual drop was helped by a "substantial" fall in crime during April last year, when the first lockdown restrictions were introduced.

The number of recorded crimes increased between July and September, it added, before decreasing again as lockdown measures were imposed toward the end of last year.

However, in March this year, recorded crime was higher than the previous year as the phased exit from lockdown started.

Billy Gazard, from the ONS Centre for Crime and Justice, said: “The coronavirus pandemic has had a significant impact on patterns of crime.

"There were large decreases in theft offences, such as domestic burglary and theft from the person, as more people stayed at home and limited their social contact."

But the figures did show a 28% increase in stalking and harassment offences across England and Wales in the year ending in March, compared to the previous year.