SEX crimes are on the increase in Inverclyde.

Official police figures for April 2023 to March 2024 show a rise of 12 per cent on the previous 12-month period.

A total of 133 were recorded.

Over a quarter of these crimes were classed as 'non-recent' in nature and more than half involved non-contact offences.

Force chiefs say that cyber-enabled sexual crimes constitute a significant proportion of them, including offences such as possession of indecent images of children and indecent communications.