More older people were arrested in this area last year than anywhere else in Kent.

In the South Kent police area, which includes Folkestone and Ashford, 33 people aged 70 or over were arrested for a variety of offences.

The figures were released by the police following a KM Group Freedom of Information request about elderly offenders.

Older people may often be seen as the victims of crime but 148 people aged 70 or older were arrested across Kent and Medway last year.

In South Kent, the most arrests – 14 – were for violence. The oldest people arrested were aged 81, one for violence and one for drink-driving.

Five people were arrested for sexual offences, two for theft, one for drunkeness and four for drink-driving.

Seven were arrested for categories of all other crime and all other non-crime which include offences such as failing to provide a specimen, blackmail, counterfeiting and affray, but police would not specify further.

The oldest person arrested was an 86-year-old in the Mid Kent area who was detained for a sexual offence.

The figures did not show which pensioners were charged or how convictions were secured.