REPORTED rapes in Wiltshire have more than doubled over recent years due to better recording practices and coverage of high profile sexual abuse cases.

Four years ago, rape claims logged by police in the county amounted to 98 adults and 68 children, but between 2014 and 2015, allegations of 239 adult rapes and 155 child rapes came to the attention of officers.

The number of reports began to soar in 2012; coinciding with the launch of Operation Yewtree and the Jimmy Saville investigation in October of that year.

Over the last year 70 cases were referred to the Crown Prosecution Service, resulting in 16 convictions. Wiltshire Police said they are "working closely with the CPS to bring offenders to justice, and have a Joint Action Plan for rape, launched in February this year by the Director of Public Prosecutions. This plan is continuing to help improve our performance."

As one of the most complex crimes to investigate and prosecute, a number of factors can lead to the 'attrition' of cases reaching a guilty verdict.

Often cases will take longer than a year to reach court, or might not go to conviction because it is dropped by police, CPS, or the victim themselves.

"Cases involving sexual offences can often, by their nature, lack corroborating evidence and come down to complex decisions around consent and one person’s word against another," the Rape Monitoring Group said in its report.

"The process of preparing for court, and the trials themselves, can also be very lengthy and involve levels of scrutiny of the victim not seen for other offences.

"At any time victims may withdraw from the process for fear of giving evidence in court, fear that the process will be too distressing, fear of being disbelieved or judged, or as a result of delays from start to finish."

Temporary Superintendent Adrian Burt, Force Lead for Rape at Wiltshire Police, said officers will do all in their power to support victims and strongly encouraged faith in his detectives.

"Wiltshire Police take all reports of rape extremely seriously and I cannot stress enough how important it is that victims find the confidence and strength to report sexual offences to us," he said.

"It is worth noting that high profile sexual abuse cases such as Operation Yewtree can often lead to an increase in the number of sexual abuse incidents reported to police as survivors can feel encouraged to report historic cases to the police once they feel confident that their report will be dealt with extremely seriously, regardless of how much time has since passed."

"Victims of rape will always be listened to, supported and protected. The Horizon team work closely with the Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) in Swindon, which provides victims of both men and women of any age, support, counselling, medical care and forensic examinations."

The 24-hour telephone number for the SARC is 0808 168 0024, or visit www.swindonsanctuary.co.uk