New crime figures show the number of drug offences, recorded robberies and instances of theft in Waterford City and County has increased

The CSO stats also show a drop in the number of homicides, burglaries and public order incidents in the twelve months to the end of September.

Controlled drug offences in the Waterford Garda Division jumped by 31% in the year to the end of September.

The biggest increase was in possession for personal use however, cultivation and possession for sale or supply were also up.

Robberies in the Division were up by 23% in the 12 months to the end of September, while there was a 10 per cent increase in theft and related offences.

However the number of burglaries dropped by 17 per cent when compared to the previous 12 months.

The number of homicides in the division dropped from 7 to 2 this year.

Public order and other social code offences dropped by 8% year on year.

Meanwhile, the CSO points out that due to concerns over the quality of data from Garda Pulse system, these figures are classed as “Statistics Under Reservation”.

The office says it’s working with Gardaí to devise new systems to improve the accuracy of the figures.}