Police in Helston have taken to social media to reassure people in the town that it remains "one of the safest" to live in.

However, officers have stepped up patrols in the town and surrounding residential areas in a bid to offer reassurance and show an "enhanced presence."

It's after claims from a teenage girl that she was followed by a man near the Water-Ma-Trout industrial estate, as reported in the Helston Packet last week.

Her allegation came in the wake of an alleged rape of an 18-year-old woman less than two weeks' earlier and two man allegedly trying to lure a woman into their car in December.

Since then there had been a "frenzy of interest" on websites such as Facebook, according to police.

Writing on the Falmouth and Helston Police Facebook page, the Helston Neighbourhood Team said: "It has become evident from social media that rumours of women being followed or attacked in our area is rife on the internet.

"To date Helston Station has received a single credible report of an offence arising from such an incident, and for which a full investigation is underway.

"Since that report was made public, several other well intentioned members of the public have reported similar incidents to the police, none of which at this time are believed to be related to the original report."

The officers feared women in the town may now be "unnecessarily concerned" due to the level of social media coverage.

"Helston is a very safe town with an extremely low crime rate, and although the police would always advise people to be safe and to think about their own welfare, it is felt that there is no specific concern at this time."

The team later added a second statement, after some people questioned whether this reassurance contradicted comments made by Inspector Ian Thompson to the Helston Packet, in which he advised women to "exercise caution" and call 999 if they felt in immediate danger.

The Helston Neighbourhood Team said: "The inspector was responding to a specific need to highlight this issue in the traditional media and to provide practical advice to readers about how to stay safe, or how to protect themselves if they found themselves in trouble."

They added that their Facebook statement was prompted by the "frenzy of interest" being shown on social media, which they said was not always productive and created "a culture of fear which outweighs the actual danger."

The officers stressed: "This is not trying to downplay the issue, nobody is dismissing the claim; indeed both articles highlight the need for people to consider their safety, but was intending to put the report in context and reduce some of the anxiety.

"Helston is still a very safe town to live in, one of the safest, and even with this current concern people must remember that on the national, or even regional, stage the personal risk of coming to harm in the town is very low."