DRINK driving and cybercrime offences are on the rise locally, according to new figures from Clydebank’s police division - but crimes of violence have fallen significantly.

Police management information figures, which were published on November 12, show that instances of some crimes are returning to their usual pre-lockdown levels after a significant drop in overall offending between April and June this year.

There were 212 drink or drug driving offences recording in the second quarter of 2020/21, up from 132 in the same period last year, and in the last six months more of these offences were also detected – with a total of 189 drink or drug driving incidents compared with 130 the same time the previous year.

Cybercrime, including fraud and online child abuse, is continuing to rise across Scotland and in Clydebank and the surrounding area, the number of fraud cases almost doubled, from 107 to 204 year-on-year.

However, the number of non-sexual crimes of violence dropped from 145 between April 1 and September 30, 2019, to 113 in the same period this year.

There were 145 crimes involving offensive or bladed weapons between April 1 and September 30.

Overall, total crime fell by almost eight per cent, with 3,555 crimes recorded in the first six months of 2020/21.

The overall detection rate also rose from 57.1 per cent to 58.6 per cent.

Chief Superintendent John Paterson, divisional commander for West Dunbartonshire, said: “We continue to work closely with partners to proactively target those seeking to cause harm in our communities.

“As well as supporting the collective response to the pandemic, we have remained focused on issues such as violence, knife crime and drink driving.

“Although fewer people have been killed or seriously injured on our roads, it is very disappointing that people still get behind the wheel after drinking alcohol or taking drugs.

“Police Scotland officers and staff are out in our communities every day, but they are also keeping people safe in the virtual world where we know that fraud and online child sex abuse are increasing.

Our cyber strategy sets a clear direction for how we will tackle the threat, risk and harm from digitally-enabled crimes.