Knife crime has risen to a new record high with some forces seeing increases of up to 50 per cent in just a year - as the proportion of offences solved has fallen to a low of just 7.4 per cent.

Police recorded offences involving a knife or sharp instrument increased by seven per cent to 44,076, its highest since figures started being compiled in 2011, according to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Bedfordshire suffered the biggest rise with knife crime rising by 57 per cent to 688 offences, followed by Suffolk (46 per cent to 230), Dyfed-Powys (45 per cent to 253), City of London 43 per cent to 57), North Yorkshire (41 per cent to 315) and Greater Manchester (35 per cent to 3,437).

There was, however, a 14 per cent fall in homicides where a knife or sharp instrument was involved, to 248 offences, mainly driven by a decrease in London.

The Metropolitan Police, which has dramatically stepped up its use of stop and search and surged officers into crime hotspots, has managed to hold knife crime level, with just a 0.1 per cent rise to 14,966 in the year to June