There were just under 20,000 recorded crimes in Blackburn with Darwen in 2023, according to police data.

Throughout last year we used figures from police.uk to work out the number of each crime type committed in the borough each month, and map exactly where they took place.

That data has now been combined to give overall figures for the year, showing how instances of each crime changed monthly and what crimes are the most common in the borough.

In total, there were 19,291 recorded crimes in the borough in 2023.

Violence and sexual offences, grouped together for this data, were the most common type of crimes, with August being the only month they were not top of the list.

Anti-social behaviour was generally second, starting slowly and then increasing throughout the summer before reaching a peak of 541 instances in September.

It then receded again and reached its lowest point in December, with only 314 instances.

In October, issues around anti-social behaviour in Blackburn town centre were raised to Blackburn Business Improvement District, with one person saying there had been an increase of this kind of behaviour in the town.

In December, it was announced that an order banning anti-social behaviour such as begging, drinking, urinating and defecating in the town centre was to be renewed.

People breaching the order face on-the-spot fines or being prosecuted at the town’s Magistrates’ Court.

Generally, theft offences, such robbery, theft from person, and bicycle theft, were among the lowest recorded offences, while burglary hit a peak of 73 around the festive period.

Using the data, we were able to map exactly where each crime took place in the borough.

The data showed the worst month for crime to be July, with 1,729 crimes committed across all 14 categories.

December had the lowest number of crimes, with 1,466.