THROUGHOUT May of this year, while in the midst of the coronavirus lockdown, police officers across Blackburn with Darwen dealt with 2271 incidents in the borough.

Of those reports, officers were called out to homes, supermarkets and streets for a variety of offences; 1221 times for anti-social behaviour, 505 times to reports of violent and sexual offences, 86 times for public order offending and on 34 occasions for drug-related issues.

Lancashire Telegraph:

Generally, the majority of crimes were reported to have taken place in public spaces such as car parks (39 offences), petrol stations (32 offences), parks (39 offences) or supermarkets (30 offences).

When it comes to the residential areas most plagued by crime, the data revealed that the most crime-ridden street in Blackburn in May was Heaton Street - a mainly commercial street in the town centre.

Lancashire Telegraph:

Further break-down of the data reveals what type of offences were commited on those streets:

Heaton Street – Police dealt with 20 incidents

  • X9 anti-social behaviour
  • X2 Burglary
  • X2 Public order
  • X5 violence and sex offences
  • X2 drug offences

Adelaide Terrace – Police dealt with 14 incidents

  • X4 anti-social behaviour
  • X1 criminal damage and arson
  • X1 drugs
  • X2 theft
  • X1 possession of weapon
  • X5 violence and sex offences

Hacking Street – Police dealt with 14 incidents

  • X3 anti-social behaviour
  • X2 criminal damage and arson
  • X2 public order
  • X7 violence and sex offences

St James’ Road – Police dealt with 14 incidents

  • X1 anti-social behaviour
  • X1 public order
  • X11 violence and sex offences
  • X1 theft

Bedford Street – Police dealt with 13 incidents

  • X9 anti-social behaviour
  • X1 public order
  • X3 violence and sex offence

CRIME MAP: See what offences occured near your home:

*Figures from data release by data.police.org for May 2020.

If the map is not generating on your browser, click here.

Yesterday, it was revealed that borough-wide, there has been a 13 per cent fall year on year for all crime - with violent crime showing a 10 per cent reduction.

Commenting, Lancashire Police and Crime Commissioner Clive Grunshaw said: "I welcome the news that crime has been cut significantly in Lancashire over the last 12 months with a 13% drop in the total recorded crimes year on year. This comes at a challenging time for the police locally and reflects the hard work that has gone into making Lancashire a safe place to live and work.

"These figures are good news for Lancashire and shows how through continued investment we are able to see positive changes.

"The people of Lancashire consistently tell me that they want the police to focus on violent crime, the fact that it has reduced significantly is testament to the hard work that has gone into to tackling the issue.

"It is crucial that we are able to continue to see a sustained drop in reported crime and to do this we need investment from government. Now is the time for a fair deal for Lancashire Police and to return the hundreds of officers lost to austerity. I have consistently called for Lancashire to receive it's fair share of officers from the government's announced increase in numbers and today's figures show what can be done with more officers on our streets. Lancashire has shown that it is a force that can reduce crime in tough times.

"I commend the hard work of Lancashire officers in reducing crime so significantly in the last year. Officers do an exceptional job in tough circumstances and should welcome today's news."