Killings in Kent are on the rise.

The number of murders or manslaughters committed in the county has gone up by almost a third over the past five years.

The latest results from the British Crime Survey, out today, show that between 2007/2008, 17 homicides were recorded by Kent Police, a total of 10.3 offences for every million of the population.

Despite the rise, it is still lower than the national average, which stands at 14.1 offences per million people.

The number reflects a national trend, with most areas of England Wales seeing an increase in the number of homicides recorded by police forces over the past five years.

There is some positive news though, the number of offences by people using firearms in Kent has been slashed by more than 40 per cent in the past two years.

A total of 82 firearms offences (excluding air weapons) were committed in 2007/2008, compared with 142 offences from 2005/2006.

That means that five offences were committed for every 100,000 people living in Kent, well below the average for England and Wales was 18 offences per 100,000 of the population.

• These figures are previously unreleased statistics from 2007/2008's British Crime Survey, the recording of which ended in March 2008.

The figures do not relate to those for serious violent crime over-recorded by Kent Police between July and September of last year.