The number of crimes recorded by the police has soared past seven million a year for the first time.

Official figures showed an 8 per cent jump in recorded crime in the year to June, hitting 7,084,375 incidents in England and Wales.

It was the first time the total surpassed seven million since modern crime recording practices began at the turn of the century, data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed.

The surge was largely down to a massive 41 per cent leap in reported fraud, to 1.8million offences.

The increase corresponded with the launch of a new service, Report Fraud, in December last year which allows the public to log cyber crime or fraud with City of London Police, which has national responsibilities in relation to financial crime.

The total included a 79 per cent increase to 1.02million in the number of frauds reported to the new service by the banking and financial services body UK Finance. 

The surge indicates just how poorly fraud was being recorded under the previous system, Action Fraud, which was repeatedly criticised as ‘not fit for purpose’ by MPs leading it to be dubbed ‘Inaction Fraud’.

A separate measure of crime – the Crime Survey of England and Wales – also showed a surge in fraud.

The survey, which aims to estimate total crime levels including offences which are not reported to police, said there were 4.5million fraud incidents in the year, up 11 per cent.

It said the increase was due to a 13 per cent jump in bank and credit account fraud to 2.8million.

The ONS data shows how the number of ‘real-world’ crimes is continuing to fall as criminals go online.

Police recorded 5.2million crimes in the year excluding fraud and ‘computer misuse’ offences, down 1 per cent in a year.

However, robbery was one category of crime to witness a surge, with a 10 per cent increase year-on-year to its highest level since before the pandemic.

Police forces in England and Wales recorded 88,282 robberies in the year to June, up from 80,469 in the previous 12 months.

The surge was down to a sharp rise in robberies of businesses, which jumped 67 per cent year-on-year to just over 31,000 – the highest on record.

Robbery of personal property, however, dipped 7 per cent to just over 57,000 incidents.

The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) said the rise in robbery may reflect increasing violence used by shoplifters, which is leading to a shift in the way the crime is recorded by forces.

Recorded shoplifting fell 2 per cent to 519,516 from a near-peak the previous year. 

An ACS spokesman said: 'The reason for the marked increase in robberies is likely due to a change in the way that some offences are now recorded as robberies that previously would have been counted as shoplifting offences.'

ACS chief executive Ed Woodall said: 'We are extremely concerned about the changing nature of theft against retailers.

'Offenders are becoming more confident, more brazen, and ultimately more violent in their crimes, threatening retailers and shopworkers to get away with stolen goods.'

He added: 'The Crime and Policing Act marked a big step forward in ensuring that the police treat shop theft more seriously, but many of the key measures from the Act such as the scrapping of the £200 threshold for investigating thefts, and the separate offence for attacking a shopworker are still not in place.

'The Government must act as soon as possible to show that it backs the hardworking people running and working in our nation’s local shops.'

Meanwhile, sexual offences logged by police hit the highest level on record with just under 219,000 in the year – or an average of 600 every day.

It included 74,484 rapes recorded in the year, about 200 lower than the peak seen two years earlier, while other categories of sex crime increased by 5 per cent.

Separately, possession of weapons offences recorded by forces hit a record 63,700, up more than 10 per cent on the previous year.

It included 30,216 offences of possessing an article with a blade or point, up 8.8 per cent in a year and the highest figure since the statistical series began in 2008-09.

Separate data published by the Home Office showed the proportion of crimes which lead to a suspect being taken to court remains stubbornly low.

The year to March saw 8.5 per cent of recorded crimes leading to suspects being charged or summoned, up to 447,514. The previous year's figure was 7.3 per cent.

But the proportion of criminals facing justice is still far below the 15.5 per cent seen in 2015.

The latest figures showed there were 1.9million crimes where investigations were closed without a suspect being identified, making up 37.8 per cent of the total.

It represented a slight improvement on the previous year when the proportion was 39 per cent.

Further figures published by the Ministry of Justice showed a rising number of criminals who are let off with a 'slap on the wrist'.

So-called 'community resolutions' – which allow offenders to dodge prosecution if they agree to apologise to their victim, for example – increased by 9 per cent to an all-time high of 189,000 in the year.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: ‘Crime is spiralling out of control under Labour.

‘Record numbers of sexual offences, knife crime and shop theft show what happens when criminals know they can get away with it.

‘This is a direct consequence of Labour cutting police numbers by 2,000 and letting thousands of prisoners out of jail early.

‘Victims are being failed at every turn, with 92 per cent of crimes not being solved.

‘Labour needs to stop making excuses and back the police to ensure criminals face consequences.’

He added: ‘The Conservatives have a plan to take back our streets with 10,000 extra police officers, hotspot policing and tripling the stop and search to restore law and order and make sure crime has consequences.’

Crime and policing minister Sarah Jones said: 'This Government is bringing down the crimes that make people’s lives a misery.

'Since the election, knife crime is down 11 per cent, knife-point robberies have fallen by 18 per cent and overall homicides are down 7 per cent.

'Fatal knife attacks are also at their lowest level in 35 years, while thefts such as phone-snatching and pickpocketing have fallen by 20 per cent in just the last year.

'That means fewer victims and safer streets.

'These are huge steps forward, but there is always more to do.

'With more than 3,800 additional neighbourhood officers, our Plan to Halve Knife Crime and stronger powers to recover stolen goods, we will keep pursuing offenders, protecting the public and restoring confidence in policing.'

On spiralling fraud, a Home Office spokesman said: 'This Government is alive to the challenge posed by fraud and is investing £250million to combat it over the next three years.

'This includes a £31million investment for a new Online Crime Centre, combining the data, expertise and capabilities of the police, GCHQ, banks, telecommunications and tech firms.' 

'Our Fraud Strategy will tackle the UK’s most commonly experienced crime by strengthening partnerships across sectors, disrupting criminal operations and delivering better support for victims.'