WILTSHIRE Police dealt with more calls on Friday than they did on New Year’s Eve.

As the county battled a heatwave, the force logged 1,774 calls to 999 and 101 on Friday, 382 more than at the busiest time in the festive period, with a further 1,443 on Saturday.

By comparison, the emergency lines received 1,392 calls over on New Year’s Eve.

It came as detectives probed a growing number of violent crimes committed in Swindon over the last week and officers from the town supported the Novichok inquiry in south Wiltshire.

Read more: Second car seized from Swindon in relation to Novichok incident

In the past week, Wiltshire Police have been tasked with investigating a serious assault in Broadgreen that saw a man receiving stab-like wounds, the murder of a 75-year-old former soldier, the kidnap of a teenager and the attempted abduction at 11pm on Friday of a teenaged girl in the Cheney Manor Road area.

Read more: Everything we know about the Broadgreen assault

Another man appeared before magistrates on Saturday charged with assault and threatening to kill his partner.

And in the latest stabbing to close a Swindon street, a man in his 20s attended Great Western Hospital in the early hours. A man, 21, has been charged with attempted murder.

Advertiser readers have expressed concern at what, to them, looks like growing violence on Swindon’s streets.

Sandra Edmondson said: “Someone told me the other day that these knife attacks in Swindon were all in my head. Swindon is becoming dangerous.”

Mark Davies added: “Probably be another next week, getting worse each week.”

In a poll on the Adver website yesterday, more than 80 per cent said they were worried Swindon was becoming more dangerous. Website user Loudoffback described Swindon as “a troubled town”.

Read more: Do you think Swindon is becoming more dangerous?

Supt Adrian Burt, Swindon’s top officer, issued a plea for calm:”The majority of these incidents involved people known to each other - these were not random attacks but rather isolated and targeted offences. That does not mean that we take these crimes any less seriously, we have thorough investigations ongoing into all cases and are doing everything in our power to identify those responsible and get justice for the victims.

“Wiltshire Police have faced unprecedented demand recently and aside from extra duties in relation to the major Incident in Amesbury our officers are still working hard within the Swindon community.

“The public can be reassured that the team is focused and committed to keeping people safe as well as focusing on the prevention of crime and will effectively deal with any incident which takes place.”

Police have appealed for information about the attempted abduction, where a man described as Asian, in his 30s and about 5ft 7ins tall with a stubbly beard tried to force a girl, 18, into a black Audi on Friday at around 11pm.