THE Avon & Somerset Constabulary has recorded the largest increase in serious knife crime in the country, according to figures released this week.

Nationally published statistics obtained under the Freedom of Information Act reveal that the number of offences in the force area has risen from 360 in 2007-08 to 618 last year – a whopping 72% increase.

Though larger towns and cities, such as Manchester, recorded higher incident figures their year-on-year increase was a much lower 25%.

The total only includes knife attacks where the victim was injured or mugged.

Taunton’s MP Jeremy Browne told the County Gazette that though he felt the problem was greater in neighbouring Bristol, people in Taunton and Wellington could not become complacent.

“Nobody wants to live in a community where young people routinely carry knives and where there’s a constant threat of extreme violence.

“The police are right to be vigilant about knife crime, and we all have a responsibility to prevent the carrying of knives becoming fashionable or routine.”

Neighbouring Dorset, with just 17 serious knife crime offences last year and 47 the year before, had the lowest figures of any force in the country.

Nationally, figures from 42 police forces showed a 6% increase on the previous year.

Mark Formosa, the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Taunton, said: “This is a truly shocking increase in the scale of knife crime.

“We need to make the job of the police easier, which we could do by relaxing the red tape around ‘stop and search’, and by rolling out mobile knife scanners like Boris Johnson is doing in London.”

Avon and Somerset Police declined to comment on the matter when approached by the County Gazette.

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