Anti-social crime rises by 50pc

ANTI-SOCIAL behaviour soared by almost 50 per cent during the pandemic, and neighbours repeatedly clashed over lockdown rules, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggests.

Police were called to around two million incidents in the year to March, from arguments about gatherings to disputes about the wearing of face masks.

But the pressures caused by the pandemic also led to an increase in vandalism, drug taking and noise-related complaints following years of decline.

Anti-social behaviour was one of the few crimes to rise, with long lockdowns leading to significant drops in homicide, violence, theft and sexual offences.

But cyber criminals did exploit the pandemic with fraud and computer misuse offences up 36 per cent.

Remote banking fraud was up by three quarters and almost 100,000 reported being scammed when online shopping or buying from auction websites. Reports of anti-social behaviour, which was once the scourge of many communities, has seen a steady decline over the last decade.

But the ONS found a 48 per cent rise in the year to March and an 83 per cent rise in cases between April and June last year, during the first lockdown.

At one point ministers told the public they had a duty to “snitch” on neighbours if they witnessed them breaching Covid-19 restrictions. When police were called to such incidents, it was recorded as anti-social behaviour, partly explaining the rise.