POLICE have reported a drop in anti-social behaviour and shoplifting in St Austell.

Inspector Simon Andrews and community safety officer Helen Toms have shared year-on-year figures with town councillors.

Inspector Andrews, the St Austell sector inspector, said there were 247 reported incidents of anti-social behaviour in the town in the first six months of this year. In the same period last year, there were 283 reported incidents.

This means the number of anti-social behaviour incidents dropped by 13 per cent.

There was a steeper percentage drop in reported shoplifting incidents.

Inspector Andrews said that between January and June 2024 there were 200 incidents reported while in the same six months this year there were 138 incidents.

This is a 31 per cent decrease and the inspector said the police were doing their best to manage prolific offenders within the current justice system.

The number of reported robberies in the town dropped from 13 to three, while drug offences were down from 44 in the first half of 2024 to 30 this year.

However, there has been an increase in reported sexual offences, up from 29 in the six months in 2024 to 44 between January and June this year.

Inspector Andrews said there has been some speed enforcement work in the sector and that police drone team members had been out identifying nuisance off-road bikes.

Helen Toms told councillors that there has been a change in reporting methods and more offences are now being logged as a crime. This change has resulted in a slight increase in the crime statistics countywide.

Councillors took the opportunity to raise a number of issues with the officers, including noisy motorbikes, anti-social behaviour outside of the town centre, managing public perception about crime in the town centre, educating young people about drugs, and the need to see more police on the streets.