Just one in 30 rape offences recorded by Hertfordshire Constabulary last year resulted in a charge or court summons, new figures show.

Rape Crisis England and Wales said increased charging rates and access to specialist sexual violence support is vital, as recent data shows rape offences took police forces the longest time to investigate and charge.

Home Office figures show there were 850 rape offences recorded by Hertfordshire Constabulary in the year to March.

Of them, 28 resulted in a charge or summons – accounting for just 3.3 per cent.

Meanwhile, the police force had an average charge and summons rate of 6.7 per cent across all offences.

Across England and Wales, 2.6 per cent of rape offences led to a charge or summons, while the overall charge rate for all recorded offences was 6.4 per cent.

The Home Office said rape offences that led to a charge or court summons took the longest time to investigate, at an average of 423 days.

This is compared with 55 days for violence against the person offences and 28 days for theft offences.

Of the rape offences recorded in Hertfordshire, 26.6 per cent were not assigned an outcome as of March, meaning they were still under investigation.

Meanwhile, 36.1 per cent were closed due to evidential difficulties where the suspect was identified, but the victim did not support further action.

Ciara Bergman, chief executive of Rape Crisis, said: "This data reflects what we already know: the criminal justice system must do better for victims and survivors."

"Those survivors who take the brave steps to report rape and sexual assault do so with the expectation that there will be accountability for the perpetrator. That just 2.6 per cent of adult rape investigations result in a charge or summons is unacceptable."

She added: "With so many survivors being denied their opportunity to seek criminal justice, it's clear that the system isn't working. But we need more than a level of commitment; we need to see drastic improvements."

Separate figures from The Crown Prosecution Service show 3,847 suspects were charged in all rape cases referred for a charging decision in 2023-24, a 28 per cent increase on the year before.

The CPS said it consistently charges around seven out of 10 rape or serious sexual offence cases referred by police for a charging decision.

Detective Chief Superintendent Doug Black, from Hertfordshire Constabulary’s Safeguarding Command, said: “Hertfordshire Constabulary takes all reports of sexual assault seriously, no matter who the victim is or what the surrounding circumstances are.

"We will always do absolutely everything we can to bring cases to court and offenders to justice. We currently have one of the highest conviction rates in the country and we are committed to improving this further.

“Rape investigations are often complex and take time to investigate, while also liaising with the CPS around bringing cases to court.

“We fully understand that the court process can be extremely daunting. However, I would like to reassure victims that we have specialist officers on hand to provide advice and support throughout.

“While in most cases early reporting gives us the chance to capture best evidence, we will always do whatever we can to investigate an offence, no matter how long ago it occurred."

To find out about the support on offer in Hertfordshire, go to herts.police.uk/ro/report/rsa/alpha-v1/advice/rape-sexual-assault-and-other-sexual-offences/rape-sexual-assault-support.