STALKING and harassment incidents in Newquay rose sharply in September compared to the month before.

Thirty two stalking and harassment offences were reported in September in contrast to 19 in August.

Inspector Steve Johnson said: “Sixteen of the 32 are stalking offences; the rest being harassment type offences. Three of the stalking offences are graded as high risk and in each case the suspect was arrested either at the time or within 24 hours.

“There were eight hate crimes recorded during September. Four of them fall into the public order area and all of those were race related. The other four were in differing areas of crime including transgender, mental health, disability and sexual orientation.

“Some of these are perceived by the victim and not necessarily words used at the time, but as mentioned last month all receive extra attention from our diverse community’s team and are offered additional support from various agencies depending on the subcategory.”

Overall crime in Newquay reduced in September compared with August following 198 offences in contrast to 289 the month before.

A number of offence groups saw a decrease including criminal damage from 32 to 16, rape from nine to two, other sexual offences from 15 to four and possession of drugs from 25 to three.

Public order offences reduced from 23 to 16, violence with injury from 43 to 19 and violence without injury from 51 to 38.

Police planning for the Christmas period in Newquay is under way.

Insp Johnson said: “We have visited some schools and colleges to carry out engagement and educational pieces around drink spiking, consent and the dangers of E-Bikes and scooters.

“We look forward to welcoming three new PCSO’s over the next few months. They are currently training and will receive extra mentoring when they arrive with us, but we look forward to welcoming then and complimenting the team.”