From Monday, February 8, to Sunday, March 13, there were 38 recorded offences, against 45 for the same period last year.

Recent crime figures for Honiton have revealed a drop of seven reported incidents year-on-year.

From Monday, February 8, to Sunday, March 13, there were 38 recorded offences, against 45 for the same period last year.

The reported offences consisted of one incident of affray, two burglaries and four assaults resulting in actual bodily harm.

Police have confirmed two of the assaults have been dealt with by community resolution.

There were also two common assaults reported and seven incidents of criminal damage - three carried out on a home, three on a vehicle and one other.

Two sexual offences were reported, as were three incidents of harassment, which were a breach of a restraining order, and five public order offences.

The remaining incidents were five public order offences, four thefts by finding, four thefts from a shop and three ‘other’ thefts - one from a vehicle, one from a person and one from a home.

There was also one ‘other’ crime, which has not been classified by name.

PCSO Steve Mingo, of Honiton’s neighbourhood beat team, said: “It is encouraging to see crime continue to drop again this month.

“In our efforts to keep crime low, the neighbourhood team will continue to target known offenders while safeguarding the vulnerable. This month has seen a rise in recorded theft offences. We are working with local shops to identify prolific offenders and pro-actively deal with them, as well as putting in preventative measures to deter this type of crime.”