West Dorset Liberal Democrats have accused the government of "losing control", with 60,249 incidents of anti-social behaviour in Dorset having gone unattended by the police since the beginning of 2019. 

In 2022 alone, 12,480 incidents of anti-social behaviour in Dorset went unattended by a police officer - accounting for 70% of all reports made.

This data was uncovered by an Freedom of Information request to all 45 police forces in the UK, to which 38 responded. Their response provided data on how many incidents of anti-social behaviour were reported to their force in the past four calendar years – 2022, 2021, 2020 and 2019 – and how many of those reports led to a police officer visiting the scene of the incident.

Nationally, 63% of cases of anti-social behaviour in England and Wales went unattended.

The new data comes as the Conservative government says it has reached its target of recruiting 20,000 new police officers, having employed 20,951 since 2019.

This means the number of police officers across England and Wales now stands at 149,572 – about 3,500 higher than it was in 2010, when the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats began cutting police numbers.

Some have argued that the rise hasn't kept pace with the increase in population since 2010 and that many experienced officers have left. Many of the new officers are replacing the approximately 20,000 who left between 2010 and 2019.

This means the number of officers is about 3,500 higher than it was in 2010, when the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats began cutting police numbers.

The Liberal Democrats are now calling for a return to proper community policing - where officers are visible, trusted and able to focus on preventing and solving crimes.

Commenting on the figures, West Dorset Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate, Edward Morello, said: "It's clear the Conservatives have failed to deal with anti-social behaviour in Dorset.

"Residents of West Dorset deserve to feel safe walking down their own streets. People should be able to feel that if they fall victim to anti-social behaviour, it will be taken seriously and police will attend.

"Instead of more empty promises, it's time for the Government to finally commit to proper community policing - where offices are visible, trusted, and able to tackle neighbourhood crime."

Police and Crime Commissioner for Dorset, Conservative David Sidwick, says that cutting anti-social behaviour and making police officers more visible are among his first priorities.