Home Secretary Jack Straw is facing calls for his resignation as criticism mounts over a 2.2% rise in crime in England and Wales.

A huge surge in muggings, and a worrying rise in violent crime, were revealed in newly published Home Office statistics.

Glen Smyth, of the Metropolitan Police Federation, said the figures indicated the time had come for Mr Straw to consider his position, blaming him for falling police numbers and dwindling morale.

"If he can't put things right he should make way for somebody who can," he said.

"If he doesn't consider his position, then the prime minister should."

The figures for recorded offences, a blow to the government's anti-crime crusade, show the first rise in England and Wales for six years.

The number of robberies - most of them muggings - increased by 19% in the year to September 1999 compared with a fall of nearly 6% over the previous 12 months.

Overall, police in England and Wales recorded a total of 5.2 million offences in the year to September 1999 - an increase of 2.2%.

Failed promise

Shadow home secretary Ann Widdecombe also expressed her horror at the figures, which she said underlined Labour's failed promise to get tough on crime.

She accused Mr Straw of "slashing police numbers", "hammering police morale" and "letting criminals out of prison early".

"People will be quite right to demand an urgent explanation from the home secretary as to why we are less and less safe on our streets," she said.

Home office minister Lord Bassam rejected the criticism, highlighting the Conservatives' record on cutting crime.

"Under the Tories, crime doubled while the number of criminals brough to book in the courts dropped by a third," he said.

'Hard reality'

Home Secretary Jack Straw acknowledged the new increase, but said the figures showed "a dramatic variation in crime rates across the country".

The home office figures showed that the biggest rise in crime was recorded by the City of London force, which saw a 22% rise, followed by the West Midlands force (16%) and Bedfordshire (12%).

In London, Britain's biggest force, the Metropolitan Police, saw its total number of offences top the million mark with a 9% rise in offences.

The city has witnessed a heated debate over stop and search tactics which have disproportionately targeted members of the black community.

Stop and searches have declined following the Macpherson Report into the death of the black teenager Stephen Lawrence - which criticised the tendency to target black and Asian youths.

Some senior policemen have blamed that for an increase in street crime, and Mr Straw admitted the reluctance of officers to use stop and search powers following the report "may have been a factor" behind the rise.

The figures released on Tuesday are broken down into divisional areas of police forces for the first time.

They show a variable picture of the ability of forces to tackle crime, with Lancashire showing the biggest drop in offences with 11%.

Rapes increase sharply

The rise in violent crime, which includes attacks, sex offences and robbery, is the largest since 1995/1996, when attacks increased by 10%.

West Yorkshire - along with Northumbria - was one of just two metropolitan forces where crime fell.

Research published by the home office last year suggested Britain was on the brink of a sharp rise in crime, partly due to increased personal wealth.

Most offences are committed by men aged under 24, while the 1980s baby boom also contributed to warnings of imminent problems.

Crime figures for Scotland will be published in March or April.