Wiltshire has one of the lowest numbers of knife crime offences in the country, despite national reports of a "knife crime epidemic" rising faster in market towns, new figures show.

Wiltshire Police recorded an eight per cent decrease, representing 26 fewer incidents, for the year ending March 2024 compared to the previous 12 months.

This decrease in incidents places the county in fifth nationally for the lowest number of knife crime offences.

Police and crime commissioner, Philip Wilkinson, said: "Recent high-profile incidents mean that knife crime has come to the forefront of our communities and addressing serious violence and its causes continues to be a priority for me and my office."

Despite being "reassured" by the statistics, he said it "doesn’t take away from the impact these incidents have in our communities".

He continued: "We still have some way to go for people to feel safe, which is different altogether than statistics telling them they are safe, but the chief constable and I are determined to work on this.

"Knife crime has a devastating impact on communities, and it does not happen in isolation, there are a number of factors that can influence whether someone decides to arm themselves with a knife - we must address the precursors to knife crime to effectively drive it down and make Wiltshire safer."

Under the Serious Violence Duty, the police and crime commissioner has a legal obligation to bring together specified partners to work collaboratively to prevent and reduce serious violence.

Partners include Wiltshire Police, Swindon Borough Council, probation services, Wiltshire Council, NHS, fire and rescue and the Youth Justice Service.

Mr Wilkinson added: "Market towns are not immune to the threat posed by knife crime, but nor are they being ignored in the partnership work happening to make Wiltshire safer and evidence-led initiatives have been commissioned in our market towns."

These initiatives include focussed deterrence targeting children and young people at risk of committing serious violence offences in Devizes and diverting them away from criminality, and Blunt Truth sessions in schools across the county teaching children about the consequences of carrying a knife and WAY Beacons.

Assistant chief constable for local policing at Wiltshire Police, Ian Saunders, said: "Whilst, thankfully, we have relatively low volumes of knife crime within Wiltshire and Swindon, we can never be complacent about the risks it poses and tragically we still see people significantly injured or killed by knives in our communities."