School bullying has led to an increase in the number of violent crimes recorded, according to Thames Valley Police.

Chief Constable of TVP, Francis Habgood, attended Bucks County Council’s full council meeting on Thursday (November 22) where he spoke about crime rates in the area.

He told members violent crime is on the rise nationally, however this is largely down to changes in the way “low level” offences, such as bullying in schools, is recorded.

Chf Cons Habgood said: “Violence is up across the country, and a lot of this is not because there is more violence on our streets, a lot of this is because of changes to rules.

“Some of those very low level offences, and I am talking about things that are happening in schools, bullying, traditionally, that would have been recorded as an incident but not recorded as a crime.

“The rules require us to put that in as a crime.”

However he added police do not plan to start arresting pupils because of potential bullying offences, as the school is “much better equipped” to deal with the issue.

Ch Cons Habgood went on to assure members “higher level” violent crimes have actually decreased in the county.