COMMUNITIES across West Mercia are continuing to benefit from falling crime levels, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics.

Total recorded crime across West Mercia fell by two per cent between July 2025 and June 2026, compared to 1% across England and Wales.

This builds on the positive progress being made year on year, with a 13 per cent drop in all recorded crime since June 2022, meaning fewer crimes affecting local people, families and businesses across Herefordshire and surrounding counties.

Some of the most significant improvements include: 30 per cent fewer thefts from people, meaning fewer residents having personal belongings such as phones, wallets or bags stolen; 21 per cent fewer vehicle offences, with fewer people experiencing the distress and inconvenience of vehicle theft or damage; 11 per cent fewer public order offences, helping communities feel safer in public spaces and seven per cent fewer burglaries of homes, meaning fewer families have faced the disruption and emotional impact of having their home broken into

Drug offences have also risen by 12 per cent across the force area. Serious offences involving a knife or sharp instrument have increased by four per cent compared to the previous year.

However, West Mercia continues to experience significantly lower levels of knife crime than the national average. The force area recorded 47 offences per 100,000 people, compared to 78 nationally, meaning people living in West Mercia remain around 40 per cent less likely to be affected by knife crime than in other parts of the country.

Police and Crime Commissioner John Campion said: "It's encouraging to see that overall recorded crime across West Mercia is continuing on its downward trajectory and several specific crime types are also going down.

"West Mercia Police officers and staff work extremely hard to protect our communities under ever-more challenging circumstances, but it's clear from these figures that more needs to be done to tackle certain offences.”