KENT saw a 16 per cent rise in violent crime during the past year, according to statistics released by the Home Office today.

The total number of crimes across the county rose by 10,672 to 147,112, which still means Kent is among the safest places to live in England and Wales.

But the rise in violent crime compares to a rise of just two per cent across the whole country.

Assistant Chief Constable at Kent Police Dave Ainsworth said the figures were "disappointing" but was keen to stress the positives.

He said: "We’re recording more incidents as crime and we’re getting better at detecting crime."

One of the successes, according to Kent Police, was the recent knife amnesty, which saw almost 4,000 knives and bladed weapons surrendered by the public.