COLCHESTER has a higher crime rate for the most serious violent or sex crimes than inner-city Birmingham or Liverpool, new figures have revealed.

Statistics released found more than seven violent or sex crimes are committed in Colchester every day. The numbers are higher per person than either Liverpool or Birmingham city centres.

The chance of becoming a victim of serious violent or sex crime in Colchester is higher than in any similar area in the UK.

The latest figures revealed more incidents were reported during the last quarter than at any period in the past four years.

The figures came from the official police.uk website and have just been released for the period October 2013 to September 2014.

Colchester has 16.57 incidents per 1,000 people compared to the Essex average of 13.39.

Colchester is compared to other similar areas in the UK such as Canterbury, Newcastleunder- Lyme and Maidstone.

But these areas have a rate of 12.64 crimes per 1,000 people.

Two factors could be responsible for Colchester’s worrying figures – the high number of historic sex crimes being reported and the problem of criminals involved in drugs in London.

This could also explain why Tendring has one of the highest rates for violent and sex crimes in the country, at 19.04 per 1,000 people.

The statistics show about six per cent of the population became a victim of crime in Colchester between October 2013 and September 2014. In reality, the figure is smaller with some victims suffering repeatedly,