Police chiefs in Hertfordshire say this year's five per cent rise in crime could be followed by a 30 per cent rise next year.

The force adopted a new recording system in April, through which all crimes reported are logged and included in the statistics.

Since Hertfordshire Constabulary took over Hertsmere from the Met Police in 2000, officers have only been recording the crimes they investigated, leading to claims from some politicians that they were keeping the figures low by not recording crimes.

Now the Government has told the constabulary, along with other provincial forces, to adopt a system similar to that used by the Met, where crimes are recorded and included in the statistics whether they are investigated or not.

Senior officers expect the number of incidents recorded to soar when figures compiled under the new system are released next July.

This year Hertfordshire recorded a five per cent increase in the total number of crimes, including a 33.4 per cent increase in the number of robberies.

Domestic burglaries were up by 17.9 per cent, and overall burglaries, including businesses, were up by 7.4 per cent. Vehicle crime dropped by 3.5 per cent. Nationally the total number of crimes increased by seven per cent.

July 18, 2002 09:30