SHOCK figures released today show that crime has risen by 26.5% in Falmouth after it was given special status to monitor the impact of licensed premises.

Falmouth is one of four towns in Cornwall which have been designated as cumulative impact zones (CIZs) along with Truro, Newquay and Penzance.

Cornwall Council alongside the police and the Safer Cornwall Partnership monitors the impact that licensed premises have on the towns.

One aspect of this is the crime rates in the towns and recent figures, which are due to go to the council’s licensing committee next week, show this is on the rise.

The biggest rise has been in Penzance where recorded incidents have increased by 64 per cent between 2016/17 and 2017/18.

A spokesman for Penzance police said: "The Penzance Local Policing Team, supported by partner agencies, have been working with local councillors in relation to their concerns about anti-social behaviour in the area.

"Inspector Nick Clarke has accepted an invitation to attend the Penzance Town Council meeting this Tuesday where these issues will be discussed."

In Falmouth incidents have risen by 26.5 per cent, in Newquay 5.8 per cent and in Truro by 4.3%.

The figures, provided by the police, cover all violent crime, sexual offences, robbery, public order and drunkenness incidents.

In order to monitor the impact of licensed premises the figures separate incidents which are reported during the day – from 7am to 7pm – and in the evening.

Falmouth saw daytime incidents increase by 50 per cent and nighttime incidents went up by 17.1 per cent.

For Penzance daytime incidents rose by 64.5 per cent and nighttime increased by 63.6 per cent.

In Truro the number of daytime incidents dropped by 13.1 per cent while those in the night time rose by 22.3 per cent.

Finally in Newquay the number of daytime crimes jumped by 45.7 per cent while night time incidents reduced by 4.3 per cent.

The figures also include a breakdown for the days of the week for when incidents are occurring. In Newquay the biggest fall was on Friday nights with crimes reported dropping by 48.9 per cent. In 2016/17 there had been 45 crimes on Friday nights but the following year it dropped to 23.

In Newquay the biggest increase was in the daytime on Mondays where there was a 400 per cent increase.

Truro saw the biggest increase on Sunday evenings with a 150 per cent rise between 2016/17 and 2017/18. The biggest fall was 53.8 per cent on Tuesday evenings.

In Penzance the highest increase was Tuesday evenings with 275 per cent while there was just one reduction with 23.1 per cent on Wednesday evenings.

And in Falmouth there was a 600 per cent increase on Tuesday evenings and a 66.7 per cent reduction during Wednesday daytime.

A report from the Safer Cornwall Partnership has recommended to the licensing committee that all four CIZs should remain in place. It also calls for licensed premises to address the CIZ in applications and reviews for licenses.

It states that all the four towns, along with other larger towns in Cornwall, are “a hot spot for crime and anti-social behaviour”.

The report states that in Truro there has been an increase in street drinking incidents and says that there are around 290 dependent drinkers in the city, making up 1.5 per cent of the population.

In Falmouth the Safer Cornwall Partnership says there is a “rising trend in the number of rapes being reported and the rate of increase is greater when compared with Cornwall and other urban areas”.

It states that the number of rape offences reported as nearly trebled compared with increase of 50 per cent for Cornwall and 58 per cent for other urban areas.

The licensing committee will meet on Monday (June 18) to consider the review of the CIZs.