More crown court cases in Devon and Cornwall are waiting for an outcome, new figures show.

The Victims' Commissioner has expressed "grave concern" at the record backlog in crown courts across England.

Data from the Ministry of Justice shows there were 902 outstanding crown court cases in Devon and Cornwall as of September – up from 857 a year earlier.

This was also a rise from 648 outstanding cases in 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic.

Across England, there were 66,547 outstanding cases in crown courts.

This was up 6% on the year before and the highest figure since records began almost a decade ago in 2014.

Baroness Newlove, Victims' Commissioner for England and Wales, said the figures were concerning. She called for "urgent and creative intervention" to address the backlog.

On average, cases in Devon and Cornwall had been waiting 113 days to be dealt with – with 22 cases unresolved for two years or more.

On average, cases in Devon and Cornwall had been waiting 113 days to be dealt with – with 22 cases unresolved for two years or more.