Violent crimes in the local area surged by 15 per cent over the last year, official statistics have revealed.

Figures from the Office of National Statistics show overall crime spiked by 10 per cent since last year – the highest increase in over a decade.

Gwent Police, which covers Abergavenny and the surrounding areas, saw violence against the person jump 15 per cent, and violent crimes involving injury climb by nine per cent.

Excluding fraud, the Gwent police territory saw a bumper 3,420 more crimes committed between March 2016 and this year.

The alarming rise in crime across the UK meant almost half a million more offences were recorded in the 12 months to March this year.

In a move to settle news of the shock rise, Jeff Cuthbert, the police and crime commissioner for Gwent, said the figures could have been inflated by an uptick in the detection of crimes.

“A number of factors could be contributing to the increase in recorded crime such as improvements in recording processes and practices,” said Mr Cuthbert. “This is certainly an area that Gwent Police has championed in recent years.

"Although we did see a nine per cent increase in recorded crime in Gwent during this period, the figure is still below the national average for England and Wales and is comparable with other Welsh Forces.

“I have no doubt that one of the biggest challenges facing the police service in England and Wales is cybercrime.

“More than 50 per cent of crime recorded now has an online element and I am confident that this has played a contributing factor in the increase.

“It is clear from the statistics issued however that there are some genuine increases in some crime types and you can rest assured that I will be discussing these emerging trends with the acting chief constable of Gwent Police, Julian Williams, at the earliest possible opportunity.

“I will be working alongside him to monitor these trends and we will be looking at any factors driving any changes so we can continue to ensure that Gwent is a safe place to live and work.”

The figures, released on Friday, showed a three per cent dip in sexual offences when compared to last year’s numbers.

John Flatley, head of crime statistics for the ONS, said the data showed a clear spike in crime, despite claims that improved detection methods were behind the jump.

“The latest figures show the largest annual rise in crimes recorded by the police in a decade.

“While ongoing improvements to recording practices are driving this volume rise, we believe actual increases in crime are also a factor in a number of categories,” said Mr Flatley.

“Some of the increases recorded by the police are in the low volume, but high harm, offences such as homicide and knife crime that the Crime Survey is not designed to measure.

“If the increases in burglary and vehicle theft recorded by the police continue we would expect these to show up in the survey in due course. We will continue to monitor these trends and investigate the factors driving any changes.”