Northern England has been named as the most dangerous place to live in the UK, according to new figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
While many expected London and Greater Manchester as the most violent and crime-ridden areas in England and Wales, the northern county of Cleveland - which includes Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees - claimed the top spot. London does not even place in the top 10 most dangerous places to live in England, coming in 11th with 96 victim-based crimes per 1,000 people - however, it is the number one worst place for robbery and theft.
Moving southwest and the living conditions become far safer, with Cornwall, Devon, Surrey and Hertfordshire all among the least dangerous places to live, reports Express.co.uk. Wiltshire is the safest place to live in England and Wales, with the lowest rates of both crime and violent offences. Per 1,000 they have just 58.1 crimes a year - 24.1 of which are violent.
Cleveland is now being labelled the "crime capital of England”, and is troubled by the highest rate of sexual offences - its deviancy figures were more than double that of neighbouring county North Yorkshire. The latest data from Cleveland Police force, which is one of the UK’s smallest outfits, reported that they collected nearly 200 knives and sharp objects in one year.
Weapons that have been confiscated of late included machetes, 10-inch “Rambo” knives and canisters of CS gas - a powerful type of tear gas used to control riots. Pictures of weapons seized in 2017 show an assortment of elongated Samurai swords.
In a desperate bid to help protect members of the public, volunteers in the area have started handing out “stab” packs to stem the never-ending tide of bloodshed. The most notable incident in Cleveland from last year occurred in May, when a 26-year-old man suffered serious injuries outside The Keys in Yarm, near Stockton on Tees.
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The victim survived the assault, which saw three people arrested and one man facing court accused of wounding. The incident led The Keys to install an airport-style security gate to scan all customers entering the premises. All of the top five areas for crime are in the north of England, and all come in well above the national average of 92.6 crimes.
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