Fewer robberies were recorded by North Yorkshire Police in the past year, despite an increase across England and Wales, crime figures show.

The Office for National Statistics says that 209 robbery offences were recorded by the police force in the year to March 2023 – down from 270 the year before.

The figure was also down on pre-pandemic levels when 219 robbery offences were recorded in the year to March 2020.

A North Yorkshire Police spokesperson commented: "We have noticed that targeted patrols and activity across the three Commands have prevented a number of robberies in our force area.

"It is difficult to confirm crimes which may have been prevented, although we are seeing a similar pattern of decrease in burglary dwellings as a result of similar proactivity"

Across England and Wales, there were 75,300 robberies recorded in the most recent year, according to the ONS.

This was an increase of 13 per cent from 66,300 in 2022, but down 17 per cent from 2020.

However, sexual offences were higher than pre-pandemic levels.

North Yorkshire Police recorded 2,233 instances of this crime in the last year, up 17 per cent from 2020.

Some 195,300 offences recorded by police across the two nations last year, up from 193,600 in 2022, and a leap of 20 per cent from 163,400 in the year to March 2020.

Overall, North Yorkshire Police recorded a total of 49,194 crimes in 2023. It was an increase from 46,609 crimes recorded pre-pandemic.