The Guardian reports on 10th March about how Knife crime is rising at a much steeper rate in the home counties and rural provinces than in London according to police figures. 

Guardian analysis of official statistics shows a 45.7% average increase in knife-related offences in 34 English and Welsh counties since 2010, compared with an 11% rise in the capital.

In the home counties, knife crime has risen by an average of 44.8% over the past eight years. Kent recorded the biggest increase of such crimes in England and Wales, up 152% since April 2010.

Police chiefs and experts said the figures were partly fuelled by gangs targeting new customers in rural areas, known as the “county lines phenomenon”, which they said was causing an “overspill” of criminality from the cities to the provinces...The number of knife crime offences remains far higher in the major cities, but the increase since 2010 is steeper in the provinces.

Full article:

→ The Guardian - Knife crime rising more steeply outside London, police figures show