WILTSHIRE Police are so bad at catching burglars that only one in every 16 household break-ins is ever solved.

From 2015 to 2016 there were 1,318 dwelling burglaries across the county and only 80 resulted in the criminal responsible being held to account - a record of just over six per cent.

Similar forces manage a higher average at 13.8 per cent while the national rate is almost ten per cent.

In February of this year, an insurance company released figures showing that in the year from 2013 to 2014, Wiltshire Police’s burglary detection rate (counting both dwellings and all other property types) was the worst in the country at just eight per cent.

Speaking in defence of the force, Superintendent Adrian Burt said at the time: “Wiltshire is one of the safest counties in the country and these figures show that Wiltshire had the ninth lowest rate of burglary in 2013/14 with just five incidents reported per 1,000 people.

“It is also worth remembering that these figures are for both dwelling and non-dwelling burglaries, which includes business premises and outbuildings.

“When we look at the statistics for dwelling burglaries (ie homes) Wiltshire’s detection rate rises to 14.57 per cent.”

These latest figures, released by the force themselves, paint a very different.

In the latest report from Angus Macpherson, Police and Crime Commissioner for Wiltshire and Swindon, he appears to suggest that the poor performance was at least partly related to the way the statistics are gathered.

He wrote: “After examination of the information, outcome rates in Wiltshire for certain crime types are not at the level I expect.

“Using targets to increase outcome rates has led to incorrect crime recording, inappropriate use of community resolutions and inappropriate police targeting of crime types.

“I have asked the Chief Constable to review this area and bring forward improvements that improve outcome rates without distorting performance.”

Overall, 22.1 per cent of crimes in Wiltshire resulted in a caution, charge or community penalty.