An investigation by the Sunday Post newspaper has revealed that Northumbria police tells the public about just one per cent of crimes, despite spending £1.7m a year on “corporate commmunications”.

The Sunday Post monitored press releases between 9am on Friday, March 11 and 9am, on Monday, 14 March.

During those three days, the media services department released: a minor road accident; a robbery at a shop; a stolen car; a stolen dog and an appeal regarding an assault from a week earlier.