Cheshire remains the safest place to live in the North West.

That is according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics, released on Thursday (July 24).

In the year to March 2025, crime in Cheshire fell by 1% when compared with the previous 12 months.

Consequently, Cheshire has the lowest crime rate of police forces in the North West, with 69.8 offences per 1,000 people.

This is well below the regional average of 91.9 and national average of 87.2.

Deputy Chief Constable Michael Evans said: "It is great to see that Cheshire has retained its position as the safest county in the North West, and these latest statistics reflect the dedication of our officers and staff in protecting the public.     

"The message is clear - we will do everything possible to make Cheshire a hostile place for criminals and I want the public to know that we will do all we can to bring perpetrators to justice, continuing with our commitment to keep the residents of Cheshire safe."

Crime has fallen by 1% (Credit: Cheshire Police)

Cheshire has seen notable reductions in drug offences (-2% compared with a national average increase of 12%), vehicle offences (-15% compared with -8% nationally) and possession of weapons (-4% compared with -1% nationally).

Cheshire has also seen an 11% reduction in burglary offences (national average -8%) and a decrease in criminal damage and arson (-10% compared with -7% nationally).

DCC Evans said: "While we have seen reductions in a majority of the areas of crime which these figures relate to, there have been small increases in a few areas, including a slight increase in sexual offences, shoplifting and stalking. 

"The increase in sexual offences comes off the back of our Consent Campaign, which is aimed at educating young people about consent, and matches the 11% increase seen across the North West and nationally. 

"While shoplifting is up 2%, it remains below the North West average increase of 11% and well below the national increase of 20%. I would like to reassure businesses that we are working hard to tackle crimes against businesses and those responsible. This includes a number of innovative and proactive measures such as SelectaDNA, specialist facial recognition software to identify suspects and Criminal Behaviour Orders to tackle repeat offenders.

"Stalking offences have increased by 4%, which reflects the work of our dedicated integrated anti-stalking unit, which helps to protect victims of stalking, but also adopts a pioneering approach to managing offenders. We have also invested in training our officers to help them identify these types of offences, and better understand how to deal with incidents of stalking and harassment. This helps us to better engage with victims and encourages them to have the confidence to come forward and report what they are being subjected to, knowing that we will take it seriously.

"We remain committed to ensuring Cheshire is a safe place for people to live, work and visit, and we will continue to build on these latest figures.