MORE than 200 residents turned up to a meeting in Penzance last night to discuss the "crisis" in which the town finds itself.

Crime figures released yesterday showed a staggering rise of 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."

However, last night's extraordinary meeting of the town council in St John's Hall, called by Cllr Nigel Pengelly, heard people's concerns about the level of anti-social behaviour that is afflicting the town.

Mr Pengelly had made calls for a street warden to be introduced, but that idea was turned down as members did not feel a warden would have enough powers to tackled the on-street issues.

More than 20 people were given three minutes each to highlight problems and air their concerns at the start of the meeting, which lasted almost four hours having been opened by mayor Dick Cliffe.

Crime figures released earlier yesterday showed that Penzance daytime incidents rose by 64.5 per cent, while night time crimed increased by 63.6 per cent from last year.