NEW figures have revealed a rising crime crisis in Essex as more resources are planned to tackle the problem.

The crime rate across the county is up 16 per cent when comparing the 11 months to November 2018 with the same period the previous year.

At a meeting of the county’s fire, police and crime panel commissioner Roger Hirst asked, and was given permission, for an increase in council tax.

It means the average household will pay £193 for policing from April compared to the current £169.

The money will fund an extra 215 police officers on top of the 150 extra last year.

However the county is still more than 400 officers and 400 PCSOs short of the levels in 2010 before the cuts began.

Mr Hirst said: “I’m pleased the members of the panel have approved this budget.

“This is an ambitious set of measures to improve policing across our county and get ahead of the increase in crime and disorder that we have seen.

“Any increase in tax has an impact and I do not take the decision to increase precepts for police services lightly.”

It means the policing budget from April will be £300m.

The news will be welcomed at a time when crime rates are rising, particularly in south Essex.

The solved rate – which Essex Police takes as the point when someone is charged not when they are convicted – has fallen below 15 per cent.

To help improve this the force plans to introduce 68 officers to patrol town centres and 50 to local policing teams.

More officers will also be assigned to road policing, children and young people, and public protection.

An extra 20 officers will be assigned to combat gangs and violence, where problems are growing across the county and particularly in south Essex.

In Southend there were 13,000 crimes reported between December 2017 and November 2018 – or one every 40 minutes.

This is a rise of more than 2,500 – or 24 per cent – on the previous 12 months.

Across 42 categories of crime figures were up in 40 of them with only business burglaries dropping, by three per cent.

Violent crime was up 34 per cent with significant increases in stalking, robbery, home burglary and drug crime.

Every two hours a crime is reported where somebody has become a victim of a violent crime in Southend.

In Castle Point crime rose 20 per cent with violent crime up 46 per cent in a year from just over a thousand to 1,500.

Reported rapes rose from 26 to 41 with all sexual offences reported up 77 per cent.

Racially and religiously aggravated crime more than doubled with home burglaries also up 42 per cent.

This is according to the latest figures provided by Essex Police.

In Rochford crime rose 21 per cent with violent crime up 41 per cent.

Sexual offences rose 40 per cent. In total the number of reported crimes rose from about 2,400 to about 2,900.

Basildon saw an 11 per cent crime rise with an extra 1,214 reported offences. Violent crime was up 31 per cent but the figures were among the better ones.