The number of recorded criminal offences involving knives in our area has risen, according to the latest figures released.

The data, which details all recorded criminal offences involving knives and sharp instruments by police force, was published by the Office for National Statistics last week.

There were 550 offences involving knives and sharp instruments recorded by Herts police between April 2018 and March 2019.

This is a small rise compared to the last available data set, where there were 511 recorded offences between April 2017 and March 2018.

READ MORE: 'A growing number of young people are carrying knives'In response to the figures, released on February 13, a Herts police spokesman said: "Whilst this increase has been partly due to improvements in the way we record crime, it is clear that society is changing and that we need to change the way we deal with knife crime.

"We are trying to understand the issues that are driving, predominantly young people, into making these decisions and to form a proactive problem solving approach that tackles these issues.

"We have done a great deal of work with our partners in local councils, schools, charities and other agencies to look at different solutions, some of which have been successful in other parts of the country.

"We have been running a number of initiatives in schools around the county working with charities like St Giles Trust and the Ollie Foundation, who have been visiting schools and giving talks to students. We have also set up a dedicated Gangs and Schools team to develop engagement projects to encourage young people to make positive choices.

"Often, the police are the last part of this tragic story - dealing with the resulting deaths, serious injuries and criminal proceedings.

"We need to focus on preventing these things from happening at a much earlier stage, by ensuring that our young people are given the information, guidance and support they need to prevent them from being sucked into these kinds of crimes."

Nationally, there were 46,950 recorded incidents in England and Wales between April 2018 and March 2019, averaging at 79 offences per 100,000 people.

This means that there were significantly fewer recorded incidents in Hertfordshire per 100,000 people (46) than the national average.