CRIME in Christchurch has risen by nearly eight per cent in the last year, with sexual offences and criminal damage showing the biggest increases.

Over the past year, the number of sexual offences has risen by 48.1 per cent, with criminal damage figures indicating a 14.3 per cent rise.

In the past few months, police and community leaders have held meetings with residents after a spate of damage to buses and other property.

Other increases include violence against the person, which is up by 8.7 per cent and public order offences, which have increased by 11.2 per cent.

Robbery incidents however have fallen by 55.6 per cent, with a 6.2 per cent drop in dwelling burglaries.

Theft of vehicles has also dropped by 27 per cent.

A meeting of Christchurch Borough Council's scrutiny committee was due to meet on Tuesday night to discuss the latest figures on community safety.

In a report to the meeting, part of the agenda detailing the figures said the rise in sexual offences equalled 80 incidents.

"The majority of these crimes relate to inter-familial and historic offences where the offender is known to the victim. Offences include sexual grooming, sexual assaults, attempting to engage a child in sexual activity and exposure."

Referring to the 6.5 per cent rise in thefts, the report said: "The nature of these offences varies by retail crime (shoplifting) continues to be a challenge with offenders from the conurbation and Hampshire using public transport to attend Christchurch solely for the purpose of committing crime.

"Regular pro-active operations with Hampshire Police and British Transport Police are proving positive in tackling retail theft."

The agenda report adds: "Over the last year, the council and partners have worked together to address reported ASB, for example concerns of criminal damage at Watermans Park and nuisance in the Friars Cliff area." Anti-social behaviour rose by 3 per cent, with 39 more reports than last year.

Concluding, the report said: "Christchurch continues to be a safe place to live and levels of crime and anti-social behaviour are still low compared to other areas in the country.

"We must continue to work with our communities and partners in order to promote crime prevention measures where ever possible."