Leicestershire’s police and crime commissioner has blamed funding cuts for a spike in violent crime in the county.

Lord Willy Bach made the comments after figures released by the Office for National Statistics showed violent crime, including assault and possession of weapons, had risen again in the past year - at a time when forces’s budget was being cut and officer numbers continued to fall.

Leicestershire Police recorded a total of 72,515 crimes in the 12 months to June this year.

In 2002/03, the total stood at 96,143 crimes.

Murder and manslaughter have remained relatively stable for a number of years, however, this year saw the force open an unprecedented 11 investigations, including fatal stabbings, before the end of May.

Lord Bach said: "These figures are shocking and in my view can, at least in part, be explained by the huge Government cuts to policing over the past seven years.

"Anyone who argues the taking away of massive resources, particularly in the number of police officers – nearly 25 per cent in Leicestershire’s case – has no relevance to today’s increase are just plain wrong."

Leicestershire Police Federation, which represents officers up to the rank of inspector, has previously warned that years of budget cuts were taking their toll, resulting in rising stress levels and workloads for officers as crime levels rise.

Leicestershire's Police and Crime Commissioner has warned that budget cuts are taking their toll on crime numbers

Leicestershire Police has made budget savings and cuts of more than £38 million and lost more than 500 officers since 2009 to stay in line with public spending reductions.

About 1,800 officers serve the city and county at the moment, whereas at its height, in 2009, the force employed about 2,300.

Speaking earlier this year, Detective Chief Inspector Rob Widdowson, Leicestershire Police’s lead officer for violent crime, said: "We are aware of increases in some areas of recorded crime, which mirror the trend nationally.

"We review recorded crime levels routinely and analyse predicted peaks in offending.

"Where we identify likely increases, we seek to implement policing operations to combat this."

He cited the ongoing sniffer dog patrols in the city centre during busy weekend nights as an example of the force’s approach to tackling drugs and weapons offences.

The force is also running the Lives Not Knives campaign to warn of the consequences of carrying a blade.

About 1,800 officers serve the city and county at the moment, whereas at its height, in 2009, the force employed about 2,300

The campaign was provoked by a series of stabbings, some of which were fatal.

Det Chief Insp Widdowson said: "We deal robustly with those involved in violence and seek every opportunity to bring offenders to justice."

Tiffany Lynch, chairman of Leicestershire Police Federation, said rising crime was a consequence of public spending cuts.

Ms Lynch said: "Our members have been telling us for a long time that the demand on an already thin blue line is too great."

Sexual offences have risen for the past five years.

Previously, the force has said it believed this reflected victims’ growing confidence they would be listened to and treated fairly by officers and the criminal justice system.

Crime Minister Sarah Newton told the BBC some of the increases were attributed to better crime recording by forces.

However, she added: "We know that some of this increase is likely to be genuine. Which is why have taken urgent action to stop these crimes and keep our communities safe."

She said the government was also investing £1.9 billion to counter the cyber-threats.

The table below shows the number and type of crimes in Leicestershire:

Offences 2002/2003 2016/2007
Sexual offences 704 1,693
Vehicle crime 8,435 9,407
Shoplifting 3,517 6,657
Drugs offences 1,060 1,386
Public order 2794 3,238