There was a significant rise in reported burglaries in Donegal last year, according to the latest CSO crime figures.
Gardaí recorded 262 burglaries in the county in 2019, with 15 of those being aggravated incidents. This represents a 16% increase on the 226 burglary offences in 2018. The number was remarkably higher in 2017, when 292 burglaries took place in the county.
The Letterkenny division had the most recorded burglaries last year, with 87 reports – up 40% from 2018.
Offences were up by 78% in the Lifford division to 16 burglaries and there was also a sharp increase in Ballyshannon, with reports jumping from 4 in 2018 to 15 in 2019.
Data from the Donegal garda division was in contrast to a national reduction in burglaries.
There was a 1.1% reduction in the number of burglaries across the country in 2019, with 16,772 reported break-ins.
The latest CSO figures are based on offences recorded on the Garda Pulse system.