POLICE and charities came together for a conference on sexual violence in Cleveland as figures showed sex offence crimes had increased by a quarter in the last year.

But Police and Crime Commissioner for Cleveland Barry Coppinger said the increase in rape, sexual violence and sexual abuse rates was a good thing because it showed people were coming forward to report incidents.

The increase is also believed to be partly down to more historical sex offences being reported.

Figures show there were 5,764 sex offences in the North-East in the year ending September 2016, up 28 per cent on the previous year.

In Cleveland, reported sex offences were 25 per cent up year-on-year, while they were up 19 per cent in Durham and 33 per cent in Northumbria.

And this week Mr Coppinger ran an event, Breaking the Silence on Sexual Violence, to coincide with National Sexual Abuse and Sexual Violence Awareness Week.

The week aims to generate discussion about how best to tackle sexual violence, as well as empowering victims and sending out a message that the UK collectively will be saying ‘It’s Not Ok’.

The Breaking the Silence event saw more than 140 local professionals from the NHS, councils, police officers and non-profit organisations such as charities, to learn how to spot the signs of sexual abuse and how to effectively support, safeguard and protect victims across Cleveland.

Mr Coppinger said: “There has been an increase of 25 per cent in Cleveland, but that is a good thing.

“That is not a concern because it shows people are more confident about reporting sexual offences.

“Perpetrators need to hear our message - their actions are totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated.”