Drink driving offences have more than doubled across Ayrshire compared with last year, despite the drop in traffic due to the coronavirus lockdown.

Crimes of fraud also more than doubled, with cyber-crime blamed for the increase in criminals taking advantage of technology to turn their victims' misery into profit.

Between April 1 and June 30, 2020, 273 instances of criminal fraud were recorded by Ayrshire police officers - up from 116 during the same period last year.

Drink driving cases increased by 54 per cent, rising from 99 in 2019 to 153 this year.

Chief Superintendent Faroque Hussain, commander of Ayrshire Division, said: “It is disappointing that despite fewer cars being on the road, some motorists have continued to drive dangerously and under the influence of alcohol and drugs.

“The devastating impact of drink and drug driving cannot be understated and we are committed to reducing road casualties and improving road safety in the division.”

Detections of drink driving also jumped, going from 98 to 151.

Regarding the increase in crimes of fraud, an Ayrshire Police Division report cites a national increase which is increasingly cyber-enabled, with criminals taking advantage of new technologies to profit from victims.

The Management Information data published yesterday for Ayrshire also showed that more weapons and drugs were removed from Ayrshire's streets.

The local division puts these positive results down to 'proactive' policing by officers on crimes such as knife-carrying.

The statistics show an increase in recorded crimes of the carrying of offensive weapons with 36 crimes recorded, 10 more than last year.

Crimes relating to the supply of drugs remained stable (87 this year, compared with 85 last year) but there was a 20 per cent increase in detections as officers targeted drug dealers. 

It comes as the Police Scotland Q1 Performance Report, introduced by Deputy Chief Constable Fiona Taylor, showed that public confidence in policing was up by 20 per cent during the first quarter of 2020-21.

Chief Superintendent Faroque Hussain, commander of Ayrshire Division, said: “Police Scotland officers have been working throughout the pandemic keeping people in Ayrshire safe in public, private and virtual spaces.

“As DCC Taylor has said today, this has been an extraordinary period and it is too early to draw any conclusions about long-term crime trends.

“However, we are committed to taking weapons and drugs off our streets and the latest figures show our determination to protect our communities from harm.

“There is no doubt that criminals will use any opportunity to exploit a situation and we have seen targeted attempts by fraudsters to take advantage of the COVID pandemic.

“We work with colleagues in our specialist resources to tackle issues such as fraud and we will persistently pursue those who set out to cause misery to our communities.

“It is important that people also remain vigilant and take steps to protect themselves from fraud."