THE number of alleged rapes recorded by Merseyside Police has almost doubled over the past four years, figures show.

A spike in reports of sexual offences also seen a more than doubling of rape nationally over the same period, following high-profile investigations including Operation Yewtree, which was launched in 2012 in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal.

Forces in England and Wales logged 35,798 alleged rape offences in the year to the end of March 2016 - a 124 per cent increase compared to the 16,012 recorded in the 12 months ending in December 2012.

Locally, the increase for rape allegations was almost as pronounced, in figures released by Merseyside Police, which show to the end of March 2016 there were a total of 748 as opposed to 618 to the end of March 2015.

Over the past four years, reported rape against males and females has increased in Merseyside from 378 reported cases in the year end 2012/2013 to 748 in 2015/2016 (An increase of 370).

The breakdown of the cases on Merseyside for last year showed there was 485 alleged adult rapes (417 to the end of March 2015) and 263 alleged child rapes (201 to the end of March 2015).

The figures nationally were cited in 42 local area digests which are published by the Rape Monitoring Group and draw together a range of official data.

Rises in the numbers of rapes being recorded may not be due to an increase in prevalence, but the result of improvements in how the police record crimes, the reports said.

Or they may mean that victims have an increased understanding that a crime has been committed, or feel more confident in being believed when

reporting what happened to them, the digests added.

Sarah Green, co-director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition, said: "Police, courts, government and everyone in frontline services and public life should do everything to keep driving this, including speaking out against victim blaming attitudes."

Wendy Williams, chair of the monitoring group, said: "The intention for the release of these digests is to encourage a more thorough analysis of how rape is dealt with throughout the criminal justice process."