Crime has fallen in Harrogate, Knaresborough and Ripon, according to new figures presented by the mayor of York and North Yorkshire.

David Skaith told councillors at recent North Yorkshire Council area committee meetings that recorded crime had fallen in both the Harrogate and Knaresborough and Skipton and Ripon constituencies over the past year.

At the council’s Harrogate and Knaresborough area committee, the Labour mayor said overall crime was down 2%, with 6,241 offences recorded over the previous 12 months.

The most common category was “crime against the person”, which includes a wide range of offences involving direct physical harm or the threat of harm.

Mr Skaith said the category accounted for 72% of offences in the area.

“That’s not unusual for this area, that’s a very common trend across the patch,” he told councillors.

Crime in Harrogate and Knaresborough accounted for around 14% of all recorded crime across York and North Yorkshire, according to the mayor.

Mr Skaith also highlighted the number of bladed items deposited in Harrogate’s police knife amnesty bin.

The bin has collected 3,951 bladed items since it was installed in 2023.

“I remember getting told by one councillor they were a waste of time,” Mr Skaith said.

Ripon figures

Days later, he gave councillors on North Yorkshire Council’s Skipton and Ripon area committee an update on crime in that constituency.

There had been a 7% fall in recorded crime over the previous year, he said, with 2,144 offences recorded.

Those offences represented around 5% of all crime across York and North Yorkshire.

Crime against the person was again the most common category, although it accounted for a smaller proportion of offences than in Harrogate and Knaresborough, at 47%.

The figures provide a snapshot of recorded crime across the two areas over the past year, with the mayor also highlighting the continuing use of the knife amnesty scheme in Harrogate.