AVON and Somerset Police are failing to record more than 13,000 reports of crime each year and under-reporting offences including rape and modern slavery offences, a new report has revealed.
The shock news comes after HM Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC), the police watchdog, assessed the accuracy of crime reporting at four forces - Merseyside, Northumbria, Devon and Cornwall and Avon and Somerset.
Avon and Somerset were found to be recording around 90 per cent of crimes and were judged to be 'requiring improvement' in the area.
Inspectors estimated that more than 13,700 reports of crime are not being recorded by Avon and Somerset each year.
The force is under-recording serious offences such as rape and modern slavery crimes, HMIC found.
Nikki Watson, assistant chief constable at Avon and Somerset Police, said: "Since our last inspection in 2014 we've made great strides in improving our crime recording accuracy, but there's still more work to be done.
"The inspectors identified areas for improvement and we welcome their recommendations."
Avon and Somerset did however fare better than neighbouring police in Devon and Cornwall which were rated as 'inadequate' on the issue, with HMIC finding that it records around 82% of reported offences.
The watchdog estimates Devon and Cornwall is failing to record more than 17,400 reported crimes each year.
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