More than half of the assaults, public order offences and other violent crimes recorded in York city centre in involved alcohol, according to police data.
North Yorkshire Police figures show around two thirds of the 1,005 violent crimes recorded in York city centre in the year up to March 2024 were at night.
Violent crimes accounted for almost one in five of all 5,629 alcohol-related, antisocial behaviour and public safety and welfare offences and incidents in the heart of York.
A police report on the figures stated the peak for reporting all such crimes was between 2pm and 6pm in 2023-4, shifting from between 11pm and 1am in 2020-1.
It comes as York councillors are set to discuss crime rates in the city’s cumulative impact area (CIA) at a meeting on its licensing policies on Wednesday, March 5.
The CIA covers the parts of the city centre with the highest concentration of pubs, bars, clubs and other licensed premises and it extends along Micklegate and into Blossom Street.
Councillors take the CIA into account when deciding applications to licence new pubs and bars.
In 2023-4, 55 per cent violent crime offences were thought to be linked to alcohol.
Other crimes
The second-most common crime type in 2023-4 was theft, with 937 offences recorded accounting for 38 per cent of the total.
Thefts in 2023-4 were up from 851 offences recorded in 2022-3 and from 736 in 2021-2.
Nuisance antisocial behaviour incidents accounted for 748 of the incidents recorded in 2023-4, compared to 559 the year before and 747 in 2021-2.
The other most-common incidents in 2023-4 were criminal damage with 111 offences recorded, sexual offences, 58, drugs, 57, fraud and forgery, 33 and robbery, 13.
The police report stated the number of sexual offences fell from 81 in 2022-3 following the launch of Operation Vigilant which used specially-trained officers to identify offenders out at night.
Figures also showed almost a quarter of all offences committed in 2023-4, 22 per cent, were recorded on Saturdays, with Sundays accounting for 18 per cent.
Crimes by street
Coney Street saw the highest number of crimes and other offences in the CIA, with 440 in 2023-4 which was up by 12 per cent compared to the previous year.
It was followed by Blake Street with 344, up by 13 per cent compared to 2022-3 and Low Ousegate, 298 and up by 27 per cent.
Micklegate’s number of recorded offences and incidents was the fourth-highest at 290, down by 10 per cent year-on-year, followed by Parliament Street, 257 and down by 17 per cent.
Piccadilly saw the largest increase in recorded incidents in 2023-4, with a rise of 41 per cent to 225.
The report stated all of the streets had a high concentration of pubs, bars, clubs and off-licences, eateries and other businesses which attracted a large footfall late at night.
Of the top five streets, the most common offence in Coney Street was thefts with 110 recorded in 2023-4.
Blake Street’s most common incident was nuisance antisocial behaviour, 100, with public concerns for safety accounting for 67 incidents in Low Ousegate.
Violent crime was the most common offence recorded in Micklegate, with 63 incidents, while in Parliament Street it was thefts which numbered 81.
The report stated the streets which ranked highest for offences and incidents had also done so in recent years.
Figures from City of York Council’s public protection team showed the amount of noise complaints in the CIA fell from 47 in 2022-3 to 26 the following year.
A council report stated the complaints mostly related to music in premises or people in and around them, as well as deliveries and collections.
There are currently 314 premises licensed in York’s CIA, out of a total of 1,081.