But one area has emerged as the nation’s worst hotspot, with 4.7 sex crimes for every 1,000 people – far above the national average of 3.4, The Sun can reveal.
Despite being one of Britain’s smallest police forces, Cleveland Police recorded the highest rate of sexual offences per head, according to Home Office data.
The force covers Middlesbrough, Stockton-on-Tees, Hartlepool and Redcar – communities on Teesside and North Yorkshire already struggling with violence and drug crimes.
Police chiefs say specialist teams are working around the clock to catch offenders.
The volume of sexual offences recorded by the police has been increasing over the last decade, according to the ONS.
The ONS say there was a rise of 9 per cent between 2024 and 2025 – but have said that is linked to the introduction of new offences.
And there was a 6 per cent increase in the amount of rape offences recording by police in the same period, from 68,970 to 72,804.
But campaigners warn that victims are still being failed by slow investigations and low conviction rates.
“The criminal justice system continues to fail survivors of rape and sexual assault at every stage, from their initial report to the police right through to the court hearing.
“Survivors are too often disbelieved, dismissed, blamed and re-traumatised throughout the justice process.
“What’s more, lengthy, multi-year delays to their case leave a significant number of women and girls feeling left with no option but to withdraw from the prosecution.
“Last year, only 3 in every 100 reported rape offences saw someone being charged, let alone convicted that year.
“Ongoing underfunding of specialist services like rape crisis centres is also leaving women and girls without essential support to heal from trauma and go through the justice process.
“If the government is serious about its mission to halve violence against women in a decade, it must take urgent action to address these issues and ensure every woman can access justice and safety.”
The second worst area for sexual offences is West Yorkshire, where 4.5 sex crimes were recorded per 1,000 people.
It is followed by Avon and Somerset (4.2), Greater Manchester (4) and Northumbria (3.9).
London places below the national average with a rate of three sexual offences per 1,000.
In September last year, Cleveland Police arrested a foreign student who prowled the streets before raping two women in separate attacks just hours apart.
Haider Ali, 31, carried out the horrifying assaults eight months after arriving in the UK from Pakistan on a student visa to study at Teesside University.
One of his victims, a pregnant woman, feared for her unborn child after being injured in the brutal attack.Meanwhile, the other woman endured a harrowing hour-long ordeal.
Haider was jailed for 12 years in March and faces being deported.
Cleveland Police saw the highest rates which covers the area of HartlepoolCredit: Alamy
In October, a violent rapist who targeted vulnerable women and children was jailed for 32 years.Edwin Youll, from Normanby in Teesside, used his job as an unlicensed taxi driver to seek out women and pulled out knives in a bid to control them into doing his bidding.
One of his victims was forced to endure 16 hours of abuse before Youll, 63, would allow her to leave.Another woman said in a statement read to Youll in court: “I took the stand, looked you in the face and told the court what you did to me.
“You took everything out of me – my strength, confidence and self-esteem. You just took what you wanted.”The police force area with the lowest number of sex offences was Surrey (2.3 per 1,000), followed by North Yorkshire (2.5).
Sexual offences per 1,000 people in year to June 2025
Cleveland 4.7, West Yorkshire 4.5 ,Avon and Somerset 4.2 ,Greater Manchester 4.0 Northumbria 3.9, West Midlands 3.8 South Yorkshire 3.8 Northamptonshire 3.7Devon and Cornwall 3.7 Lancashire 3.6 Cheshire 3.6 Durham 3.6 Humberside 3.5 Cumbria 3.5 Hampshire 3.5 Kent 3.5 Nottinghamshire 3. 5 Norfolk 3.5 North Wales 3.4 Sussex 3.4, Lincolnshire 3.4 Dyfed-Powys 3.4 Derbyshire 3.4 Gwent 3.3 Leicestershire 3.3 South Wales 3.3 Staffordshire 3.2 Merseyside 3.2 Suffolk 3.2 Essex 3.1 Gloucestershire 3.1 Cambridgeshire 3.1 Metropolitan Police 3.0 Warwickshire 3.0 Bedfordshire 3.0 West Mercia 2.9 Wiltshire 2.9 Dorset 2.8 Thames Valley 2.7 Hertfordshire 2.5 North Yorkshire 2.5 Surrey 2.3
The data, released by the Office for National Statistics, also revealed that there were 1,336 alleged sexual assaults involving knives – 280 of which were in London.
Detective Superintendent Helen Barker, of Cleveland Police told The Sun: “Cleveland Police takes reports of sexual assault extremely seriously, and I want to reassure victims that they will be listened to and believed.
“We are continuing to address this issue through our ongoing work under Operation Soteria, which aims to transform the way investigations and prosecutions are handled. This approach strengthens support for victims while ensuring the focus remains firmly on suspects.
“Across our teams, we have more than 200 Sexual Offences Liaison Officers (SOLOs) who are specially trained to understand trauma, provide support, and refer victims to partner agencies we work closely with.