VIOLENT crime recorded by police soared over the last year - especially in Yorkshire - it was revealed today.

Offences of wounding, threats to kill, possession of weapons, violence against the person and harassment were all up an average of 12%.

The Yorkshire and Humber region had the second highest rate of all recorded crime in England and Wales.

Home Office officials said the rise was because there are now record numbers of police to register crimes.

And they said England and Wales were, in fact, experiencing the longest sustained fall in crime in living memory.

The recorded crime figures totalled 1,109,017 violent offences in 2003-04, up from 991,603 the previous year.

It included 955,752 offences of violence against the person, up 14%.

Threats to kill were up 23% to 22,232, serious wounding up 8% to 19,358, racially aggravated wounding up 11% to 4,840 and harassment up 26% to 152,269.

There was little overall change in the number of firearms offences. But there was an 18% jump in the use of imitation weapons to 2,150. Shotguns were used in 720 offences, up 7%.

Sex offences rose 7% to 52,070 - including an 8% rise in rape of women to 12,354 offences. Criminal damage leaped 9% to 1,205,576 offences.

Overall, the total number of recorded crimes rose 1% to 5,934,580.

* The separate British Crime Survey says crime has plummeted 39% since 1995. It is based on interviews with tens of thousands of people, rather than on crimes reported to police.