Knife crime offences hit a record high in 2018/19, up by 8% on the previous year in England and Wales, new figures show.

The figures for police-recorded crime revealed there were 43,516 police-recorded offences involving a knife or sharp instrument, which is the highest since comparable records began in 2011.

The figures released on Thursday by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) excludes Greater Manchester Police, which records data differently.

Robbery offences rose by 11% to a total of 85,736, while the total number of homicides in 2018/19 increased slightly to 701 offences from 693 in the previous 12 months, excluding terrorist attacks.

The total number of violence against the person offences rose by 20% year-on-year to 1.67 million.

Mark Bangs, from the ONS Centre for Crime and Justice said: “The picture of crime is a complex one. Overall levels of crime have remained steady, but this is not the case for all types of crime.

“For example, overall levels of violence have remained steady but we have seen increases in violent crimes involving knives and sharp instruments.

“We have seen increases in fraud and overall theft, but decreases in burglary following recent rises.”

Theft showed a 13% increase compared with the year ending March 2017 – however estimates of theft remain much lower than 20 years ago.

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