Almost seven people a day are victims of harassment in Northern Ireland and the current power-sharing stalemate at Stormont could further delay specific laws to deal with the problem.

Statistics from the police show that there were 234 harassment cases in 1998/99. By 2016/17, there were 2,449, an increase of 947 per cent.

Incidents peaked in 2014/15, when police recorded 3,059 cases.

A police source said: “Cases of harassment have been steadily on the rise since 1998, and there is a direct correlation between the development of ‘smart’ technology that tracks people’s movements and the increase.

“A lot of stalking victims are unaware the people stalking them may have installed tracking software on their laptops and mobile phones that reveals their identity. The rise in cases has also been caused by the ease with which social media can be used to harass, bully and intimidate people.”

The source added: “It is time for people to become much more tech-savvy and aware of how they are being traced.”