Cleveland Police said offences went up by more than 8% in January, with incidents of violence and criminal damage showing a large increase.

But Detective Superintendent Stewart Swinson from Cleveland Police said they were winning the battle.

He said they were scoring "notable victories" with more than 3,000 fewer victims of burglary, car crime and robberies in the last 10 months.

New counting rules mean violence, criminal damage and sex offences have gone up.

In January, incidents of violence went up from 294 cases to 821. Criminal damage also showed a large increase.

Last month, house burglaries rose by 13 cases to 546 and robberies jumped more than 50%, although police say the annual trend is still down.