A police inspector has outlined challenges he is facing around anti-social behaviour.

Rutland and Melton Inspector Rowan Paterson-Bell described growing concern amongst Uppingham residents for disturbances in the town, while highlighting the measures being taken to curb a recent increase.

With 11 recorded cases over the last two months, representing a 57% rise over the same period last year, incidents are demonstrably up in Uppingham.

Yet, the spread of misinformation and "embellishment of stories" has served in some part to heighten perceptions of the problem, and possibly inflate it to a scale that may not be true, said Insp Paterson-Bell.

"Undoubtedly there is anti-social behaviour in Uppingham," the inspector said, "but we are exploring the details of what is being reported and why, to determine whether an anti-social problem exists or whether it has simply been perceived that way."

A number of issues have been raised by residents and councillors of Uppingham to the police concerning anti-social behaviour and criminality. Yet, according to one council meeting statement, some residents do not feel it is worth reporting incidents in Uppingham, because they do not believe a proportionate and effective response will be executed.

As the inspector explained, every report is worthwhile, if only to determine patterns of behaviour.

He said: "We would always recommend crimes be reported. If they are reported to us and we can't take any action, at least we get a greater understanding of the problem in an area.

"We have to be very smart in how we deploy people, but even if we receive reports which we can never progress or be investigated to a successful resolution, we can still identify a crime pattern. If we do that, we can deploy resources to stop crimes happening just from our presence in the area."

Some councillors have also voiced a concern that there aren't enough police officers in the town. In response the inspector's team is adapting its strategy to ensure residents feel protected, with specialist units that can be drafted in when available.

"I've been a cop for 23 years," he continued. "We've always said, you can never underestimate just how many crimes you might have prevented just by being present in the street.

"Through my retrospective tracking, over the last month we have had 50 patrols in Uppingham itself per week, which equates to about eight or nine a day. So there clearly are cops there. What I'm asking for is more visible patrols.

"I do understand that what has been happening has caused our members a great deal of concern, however there are very few concerns from me as policing commander. Uppingham has the lowest crime rate of any beat across the whole of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland, bar East Midlands Airport. It's a great place to live."

While enhancing police presence in the town, the inspector wants to see more "diversionary activities" offered to disincentivise anti-social tendencies, focussing on young people and their provisions.

"The general feel in Rutland is that green spaces have been eroded and eroded. 'No ball games' signs have gone up everywhere and it's displaced young people into different areas.

"We've been trying to understand what provisions are available for our young people in Rutland, and what could be available. As authorities, we have been looking into how we can support young people in diversionary activities to keep them away from delving into criminality."

But as Insp Paterson-Bell explained, this challenge is not solely the responsibility of the police, but all authorities in the county, including schools and the council.

"You can't arrest your way out of problems, so we need to bring longer-term solutions," he continued.

"It's down to the parents of children involved, and our partner agencies. When we target the ring leaders of these disruptive groups, we'll speak to the council about housing tenancies, or perhaps we'd speak to a school. Whatever it takes to understand the root cause of this behaviour.

"I wish there were one quick fix for it all, but it's a societal-based issue. We can do our best but every circumstance has a bespoke set of issues."