Birchwood crime falls a massive 27 per cent over Christmas

According to data from Police.uk, the number of reported crimes was slashed by 27.4 per cent, from 95 reports in November to 69 reports in December.

Crimes reported in almost every category fell between November and December, including antisocial behaviour, and violent and sexual offences.

However, crimes such as shoplifting, burglary, and vehicle crime all increased between those two months.

This fits with the usual trend for Christmastime, as more burglaries and thefts are often reported around the festive period.

In previous months, Birchwood residents had reported a large spate of bicycle thefts, but in December there were none reported to police.

There were also no counts of robbery or theft from the person reported to the police.

It should be noted that reported crimes only give an indication of the number of crimes committed in an area; some crimes will go unreported to the police, but there may also be multiple reports for the same crime, i.e. vehicle theft, or antisocial behaviour.

In terms of prosecutions, 40 per cent of reports from December remain under investigation - which equates to 28 reports.

More than one-quarter of reports did not lead to a suspect being identified, meanwhile, almost 15 per cent of reports have been unable to prosecute a suspect.

The highest number of reported crimes remains to be violent and sexual offences.

An investigation by the Warrington Guardian revealed that fewer than three per cent of reported sexual assaults lead to a conviction.

Responding to this investigation, Cheshire's Police and Crime Commissioner, John Dwyer, said: "I’ve appointed a Victims’ Champion who feeds back to me on the support victims are offered and any gaps that exist in the system, so we can work to improve them.

"I want people in Warrington to be reassured that we are on track to have the highest number of officers we have ever had since Cheshire’s boundaries were set in the 1970s."