THE way Cheshire Police records crime has been indepedently inspected following criticism of the practice nationwide, it has been revealed.

John Dwyer, Police and Crime Commisioner for Cheshire, said: “We’ve had this debate going nationally as to how reliable the statistics are.

“For Cheshire I have carried out an independent review about how the information is compiled.

“I have found nothing that causes concern.”

Police have been criticised nationally for moderating how much crime has been recorded.

From March, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary will start a review of all police forces.

Mr Dwyer said he will ‘work closely’ with police to ensure any changes are implemented.

The announcement comes after latest figures for the amount of crime recorded in Cheshire were released on Thursday.

Crime is down one per cent overall, although reports of sexual assaults, violent crime and theft are on the increase.

In the year up until September 2013, sex offences had risen by 21 per cent to 896, and theft from a person was up 42 per cent, with 1,088 crimes recorded.

Bosses at Cheshire Police say the rise in sex crimes is because its dedicated rape unit is able to investigate cases more efficiently, while the theft upsurge was blamed on Creamfields where 400 crimes were reported in one weekend with people having phones and wallets stolen.

Violent crime like robbery was also up slightly by four per cent.

Reductions were seen in criminal damage, arson, drug offences, fraud and possession of weapons.

Mr Dwyer said he was ‘disappointed’ not to see an larger decrease, but that he believes Cheshire is still a safe place to live.

He said: “We have got to accept that at some point crime will plateau, and that crime will always be committed.

“We need to have discussions and see how we can increase reduction, and how we can improve on the level of crime in Cheshire.”

Dep Chf Con Helen King, from Cheshire Police, said: “Overall, crime is continuing to fall in Cheshire and the county remains one of the safest in the country.”