Police have been criticised for “worrying” crime figures across the Thames Valley by candidates standing for the next police and crime commissioner election next week.

Thames Valley Police has seen its first increase in overall crime in ten years after posting its latest performance figures this week, and has largely attributed the increase to a change in recording practices as set out by the Home Office.

Although overall crime levels in Thames Valley are low compared with five and ten years ago, with 67,000 fewer crimes reported this year than in 2005/2006, and 39,000 fewer than in 2010/2011, robbery has increased by 7.6 per cent on last year, but has fallen by over 50 per cent compared with five and 10 years ago and violence against the person has increased by 30.3 per cent on last year to 28,319.

While TVP say they do not believe it reflects an actual increase in violence in the Thames Valley, Ukip candidate for Thursday’s police and crime commissioner election, Lea Trainer, has blamed a lack of police presence on the streets for the figures.

He said: “The only way to stamp out violent crime is to adopt a zero tolerance approach. It is all well and good saying that crime is being recorded, but the important bit is going from arrest, to court to conviction.

“If we are not showing zero tolerance and are not being harsh, then what deterrent do we have to people going out and committing crime? They will think they can get away with it.”

The force have also seen a 21.4 per cent increase in recording of sexual offences, with a 37.3 per cent increase in reports of rape as well as increased reports of domestic abuse related crime with a 19.5 per cent increase.

Labour candidate Laetisia Carter praised the increase in these types of crimes being reported, but said that overall, figures appear to be “going the wrong way”.

She said: “It is worrying. We are due to lose 300 officers across the Thames Valley and I am wondering how much further we can go.

“But if we are seeing an increase in the reporting of sexual offences, child abuse and domestic violence, that must be a good thing because they are complex cases that need highlighting. But we need the convictions. There is no point in people coming forward to report these crimes if there is no conviction.”

John Howson, the Liberal Democrats’ PCC candidate he was “disappointed” to see crime going up and says Thames Valley Police needs more resources to cope with crime.

He said: “It is a very worrying statistic to see that homicides have increased from eight in 2014/15 to 18 in 2015/16. That is 18 people who have lost their lives as a result of crimes in the area. Violent crime on the rise is also very worrying.”

Deputy Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police John Campbell, said that despite an increase in violent crime last year, which may appear to be “concerning on the face of it” he is confident that the increases are due to better recording and says that the area still has “some of the lowest levels of violent crime in the country.”