There were 445 reported crimes in Sidmouth last year, compared to 398 in 2015.
Sergeant Andy Squires updated town councillors on the statistics this week.
He compared Sidmouth’s entire total, which is a 12 per cent rise year on year, with that of just Exmouth town centre - where there were 878 crimes reported last year.
The main offences in Sidmouth were criminal damage - 115; harassment or stalking - 76; violence with injury - 65; ‘other’ thefts - 42; shoplifting - 31; and burglaries from homes - 31.
Sgt Squires said the issue of boy racers abusing Manor Road car park had dropped ‘significantly’ since East Devon District Council installed barriers.
He also gave the figures for last month, when 31 incidents were reported, up from 28 in December 2015.
These included three reports of violence with injury and 13 cases of harassment, one burglary from a home, two shoplifting offences and four other thefts. There were also six instances of criminal damage, one possession of drugs and one other offence.
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