POLICE say they have seen a steep rise in the number of young people carrying knives.

A meeting of the Truro and Roseland Community Network Panel on Wednesday night heard that over the past 12 months there has been a rise of 70.8% in weapon offences.

Inspector Rick Milburn also told the panel that in the past 28 days there had been a 100% increase, but said that some of that was due to the police catching one person on a number of occasions.

He said: “This is young people carrying weapons. In west Cornwall, not just Truro, we have seen an increase in young people carrying weapons – usually knives.”

The police officer said work was being carried out with schools in the area to get the message across that it is not acceptable to carry a knife or any other weapon.

During his presentation, Inspector Milburn also gave details of other crimes which had been recorded in the Truro area.

He said violent offences had risen by 55% over the past 28 days and over the past year they had gone up by 18%. He said violent offences were on the rise across west Cornwall.

The panel heard that 61% of the offences were domestic related with Inspector Milburn saying: “They happened behind closed doors.”

He added that 28% were incidents between “known acquaintances” and that 8% were related to the night-time economy in Truro.

The number of rapes had increased by 50% over the past 28 days and 21% in the past year.

Inspector Milburn said that for the recent figures this equated to three offences – one was an historic case dating back to 1983, one was a domestic incident and the other was against a child.

He reported that the number of sex offences in the Truro area had dropped by 17% over the past 28 days.

Reports of robbery are also on the rise with an increase of 125% over the past year.

Inspector Milburn said there were a number of reasons for the increase but police had seen an increase in the number of young people who were having their mobile phones taken from them.

He said: “We are seeing an increase in young people carrying around mobile phones that are worth hundreds of pounds and we see a lot of grab cases. Someone will run past and grab a phone from a child.”

The panel also heard that the police were working on tackling issues with drugs and county lines – a practice where gangs use children and young people to sell and distribute drugs.

He said police were working with partner agencies to educate them about county lines and the signs to look for in victims.

Inspector Milburn added: “Over west Cornwall and not just Truro a lot of young people are using or possessing Xanax, it is a real concern, it is a tranquilizer.”

The panel heard that over the past 28 days there had been 222 crimes recorded in the Truro area, but Inspector Milburn said that this was lower than other areas in west Cornwall with Penzance having 240, Falmouth 258 and Camborne 303.