Crime has risen slightly over the last year in Redbridge, official police records reveal.

But with no official crime statistics yet published for the coronavirus lockdown period, police chiefs say their own figures show overall crime remains far below normal levels.

The Met Police recorded 24,079 offences in Redbridge in the 12 months to March, according to the Office for National Statistics.

That was an increase of 2pc compared to the previous year, when there were 23,523.

At 79 crimes per 1,000 people, that was lower than the rate across England and Wales, which stood at 89.

Crimes recorded in Redbridge included:

•476 sexual offences, a decrease of 11pc

•6,314 violent offences, up 1pc

•1,514 incidents of criminal damage and arson, down 2pc

•1,407 drug offences, up 94pc

•164 possession of weapons such as firearms or knives, down 7pc

•1,218 public order offences, up 2pc

•11,783 theft offences, up 1pc

Overall, police recorded 3pc more crime across England and Wales – there were almost 5.8 million offences in the year to March.

This excludes crime recorded by Greater Manchester Police, whose data was compromised after the installation of new IT software.

The increase was largely driven by rises in stalking and harassment and fraud and computer misuse, which both jumped by 12pc.

However, the ONS said stalking and harassment figures may have been affected by improvements in the way police record crime, which could explain the large increase.

The ONS said crime figures were largely unaffected by the coronavirus pandemic, as the period covered was mostly pre-lockdown.

However, the National Police Chiefs’ Council says its own provisional figures, which cover the four weeks to July 5, show crime has fallen by 14pc compared to the same period last year.