POLICE have carried out stop and searches 68 times in the city centre so far this year according to the latest available data.

Data available through Police.uk shows the stop and search stats for Worcester city centre and surrounding areas for January, February and March.

According to the figures, January saw 21 stop and searches carried out, followed by an increase to 29 in February, and then falling to 18 in March.

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Reasons for the stop and searches included drugs, weapons and stolen goods.

The data is populated with data submitted by local forces. There were also 76 searches carried out by West Mercia Police that could not be mapped to a location.

According to Gov.uk, a police officer has the power to stop and search you if they have reasonable grounds to suspect you’re carrying illegal drugs, a weapon, stolen property or something which could be used to commit a crime.

For more information about stops and searches, you can visit https://www.gov.uk/police-powers-to-stop-and-search-your-rights.