CRIME in Wellington rose by almost a third in March, latest figures show.

Police chief Sgt Helen Boyd said there were ten more crimes last month than there were in February, a total of 43.

Presenting her report to town councillors on Monday (April 7), she said the biggest rise on the previous month was in criminal damage offences.

Sgt Boyd said windows had been smashed at Paws & Claws and a Boots, where somebody was prosecuted.

There were also instances of greenhouse glass smashed and graffiti found on a wall.

In other criminal damage offences, fence panels and numerous benches were wrecked in Wellington Park but officers had struggled to gather any evidence, said Sgt Boyd.

Nine shoplifting incidents were recorded across One Stop, Waitrose, Asda, Co-op and Superdrug, with police believing one person being responsible for five of these.

Sgt Boyd said one person had been prosecuted.

There were ten assaults and common assaults last month, two at the King's Arms, two at The Tamarind Bay restaurant and the others domestic incidents.

Sgt Boyd said arrests had been made and enquiries are continuing.

Elsewhere, the number of burglaries dropped, as did the number of bicycle thefts.

Overall, the figure was one fewer than March 2013, where 44 crimes were recorded.