Violence and sexual offences in the City of London jumped by almost 25% last year, with rising stress levels among workers in the Square Mile cited as a trigger for the surge in misconduct.

More than 1,600 offences related to violence and sexual crimes were reported to the City of London Police in 2018. This is up by a quarter on the 1,337 incidents reported in 2017, according to an analysis by Financial News. The findings come as a woman was raped last month in St Michael’s Alley near the Bank of England.