NORTH Yorkshire Police is failing to record one in five crimes properly - including violence, rape and domestic abuse.

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) said the figures mean victims are being failed and rated the force’s crime recording as “inadequate”.

Following an inspection of the force last year, HMICFRS found one in five crimes are not properly recorded, branding the situation “simply inexcusable”.

In response the force said it focused on victims and logged all calls, but its administration was letting it down.

Although HMICFRS said the force has made improvements since it was last inspected in 2014, the inspectorate said that between February 1 and July 31, 2017, approximately 9,200 crimes were not being recorded.

The report states: “This represents a recording rate of 80.1 per cent. The 19.9 per cent of reported crimes that go unrecorded include serious crimes such as sexual offences, domestic abuse and rape.

“The recording rate for violent crime is a particular cause of concern at only 74.9 per cent.

“This means that, on too many occasions, the force is potentially failing victims of crime."

HM Inspector of Constabulary, Matt Parr, said: “This is simply inexcusable.

“The force has robust processes in place to ensure the safeguarding of victims of these crimes, but too many offences continue to go unrecorded and therefore not investigated properly. The force is potentially depriving victims of the services and justice to which they are entitled.”

Deputy Chief Constable Lisa Winward, of North Yorkshire Police, said the force had to do better. She added: “Based on its inspection last year, HMICFRS found that although our officers and staff are focused on the needs of victims, our administration is letting us down, and we are not recording all crimes as we should. That must change, and we have already started to make improvements.

“It’s important to remember that every call we answer is logged; nothing is ignored. In every case where there was a vulnerable victim, we have sent an officer and provided the service.”

To ensure they improve, the force has put a group in place to improve recording and will work with another force to learn from them.

Julia Mulligan, North Yorkshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner, said she was "concerned" by the report, the public "rightly expect better", and improvements need to be made. She said: “In response, it has been agreed that a member of my team will work directly with senior officers to oversee the implementation of an action plan, and I will ask them to report on progress in public.”