Wiltshire Police is supporting a national campaign to highlight stalking and harassment – as the Force is dealing with an average of 11 such crimes every day.

In the year April 2021 to this March Wiltshire Police recorded 4,102 stalking and harassment crimes, a rise of 4 per cent on the previous year’s figure of 3,926.

National Stalking Awareness Week runs from April 25-29.  During the period, the police say they will be focussing on helping victims of the crimes.

Supt Sarah Robbins said: “These offences have a significant, often life-changing impact on victims and, without appropriate, early intervention, the risk of harm can quickly escalate.

“Over the past few years we have put in place stalking champions, to provide specialist advice to officers dealing with these types of cases, as well as informative step-by-step guides and training for our frontline officers and staff.

“We’ve also worked closely with the Crown Prosecution Service and the Government to roll out Stalking Protection Orders, which can be used as an additional tool to protect victims.

"So some inroads have been made and there has been a huge amount of work around raising awareness of stalking offences, the importance of reporting this and what help and support there is available. This has led to an increase in reports.”