CRIME has increased slightly in Newquay throughout the summer season.

There were 240 incidents of crime reported to the police in June, 251 in July and 259 in August.

A number of offence groups saw a rise in August, which Inspector Steve Johnson states are linked to Boardmasters.

There were 26 incidents of possession of drugs in August, five in July and six in June. Public order offences also rise sharply in August with 21 incidents recorded opposed to 13 in July and 14 in June.

Insp Johnson believes violence with injury and violence without injury incidents decreased in August “probably” due to the increased police presence in the town during Boardmasters and a fall in footfall as the month progressed.

There were 39 incidents of violence with injury in August, 48 in July and 24 in June. Police recorded 43 violence without injury incidents in August, 52, in July and 34 in June.

There were seven recorded rapes in August, four in July and five in June. Police recorded three burglaries to businesses in August, one in July and none in June. There were three residential burglaries in August, three in July and 12 in June.

Shoplifting saw an increase in August with 12 incidents while there were seven in July and four in June.

Insp Johnson said: “Crime figures for Boardmasters were around the same as past year. Currently there are 47 recorded crimes for this event.

“Most of those increases in August are around crime types linked to Boardmasters. Slight decreases around violence with and without injury can probably be attributed to the increased police presence and a fall in footfall to the nighttime economy around the same period.”

A live facial recognition van was deployed to Newquay during Boardmasters, which was the first time ever the vehicle has been in Cornwall.

Insp Johnson said: “The van was primarily aimed at public safety with the watch list being set to look for those who may pose a threat to vulnerable people and children, given the amount of youngsters in the town. Overall the figures showed around 15,000 on the Thursday, 10,000 on the Friday then just under 15,000 on the Saturday.”

There have been a number of stalking and harassment incidents with 17 recorded in August, 37 in July and 40 in June.

Insp Johnson said: “Fourteen of 17 offences in August are harassment, one is a controlling behaviour offence and the remaining two are classed as stalking. They are both domestic related. Of those, one is medium risk and the other is standard risk.

“This means we have had no high risk stalking offences reported to us during August, which is assessed as an extreme level of control, with frequency and warning signs around serious harm or the threat of serious harm.

“Medium risk is where there is a pattern of abuse or control with a potential for harm and standard is where there is little or no pattern of abuse and no indication or likelihood of harm.”