Crime figures in Britain have gone up for the first time in six years.

New government statistics show violent crime has risen considerably -- with robberies, including muggings, going up by nearly twenty per cent.

Recorded rapes have also increased sharply, partly due to a growing willingness by women to report the assaults.

There was a marked increase in some city centres, notably the financial district of London and Newcastle in the northeast. The Home Secretary, Jack Straw, said the government is committed to cutting the long-term growth in crime.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service