Photo: Stephen McKay · CC BY-SA 2.0Hardwick records drugs at 5.4 times the rate of a typical town its size
Violent crime was up 48% in a year. It has less crime per resident than 73% of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. Annual rates stand at 16.7 violent and sexual offences and 9.3 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage for every thousand residents.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Hardwick
Less crime than many places its size
Of 856 UK towns of 2,000 to 4,000 people, Hardwick has the 334th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Brockenhurst, Carlton and Milborne Port, higher than Stretham, Wolston and Upper Tean. Towns its size ↓
Many neighbourhoods rank low for crime nationally
The government’s Indices of Deprivation 2025 rank every neighbourhood in England on recorded crime. 43% of Hardwick’s residents live in one of the lowest-crime 10%, and 0% in one of the highest-crime 20%. Neighbourhood ranks ↓
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 48% more violent crime per resident in Hardwick than in the year before; across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people violent crime held steady. Trend ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
How Hardwick comes out at B+
A fairly firm grade. Built on 207 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Hardwick against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
How crime in Hardwick has moved
“Towns its size” pools all UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people that police.uk covers each month (Greater Manchester has no data).
Rolling twelve-month rate, per 1,000 residents a year (longer windows for smaller places, where a few crimes swing a month). In the 12 months to August 2026 against the 12 before: violent +48% (towns its size +1%), anti-social behaviour -24% (towns its size +0%).
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Hardwick runs highest on drugs (5.6 per 1,000 against 1), vehicle crime (4.9 per 1,000 against 2) and other theft (7.1 per 1,000 against 3.2).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 59 | 22.2 | 22.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 25 | 9.4 | 8.8 |
| Other theft | not graded | 19 | 7.1 | 3.2 |
| Drugs | not graded | 15 | 5.6 | 1 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 14 | 5.3 | 4.5 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 13 | 4.9 | 2 |
| Public order | not graded | 8 | 3 | 3.6 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 8 | 3 | 1.9 |
| Other crime | not graded | 7 | 2.6 | 1.5 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 5 | 1.9 | 1.8 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0.1 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 0 | 0 | 0.4 |
| Robbery | Violent | 0 | 0 | 0.2 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0 |
“Violent” is police.uk’s violence and sexual offences (which includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury), robbery and possession of weapons. Anti-social behaviour isn’t a crime category; shoplifting and other theft happen mostly in shops and town centres rather than to residents, so neither counts in the grade.
September 2025 to August 2026, per 1,000 residents. The tick on each bar is the typical (median) town among UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
A third of Hardwick residents live in one of England’s lowest-crime neighbourhoods
100% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 0% in the highest-crime 20%. The crime domain scores the risk of violence, burglary, theft and criminal damage where people live, so it can read differently from the town-wide rate, which counts crimes where they happened.
Hardwick’s residents by the crime decile of their neighbourhood (LSOA, about 1,500 people) in the English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (crime domain), where 1 is the highest-crime 10% of England’s neighbourhoods and 10 the lowest.
Of 856 towns its size, Hardwick is 334th from the least graded crime
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richhill Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon | 2,738 | 6.2 | 2.8 | 3 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 45 | Hemingford Grey Cambridgeshire | 3,372 | 6.8 | 7.8 | 3.8 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 50 | Duxford Cambridgeshire | 2,216 | 9.9 | 5 | 1.2 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 62 | Over Cambridgeshire | 2,898 | 10.8 | 4.6 | 1.3 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 105 | Coates and Eastrea Cambridgeshire | 2,313 | 14 | 3.6 | 1.6 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 331 | Stretham Cambridgeshire | 2,070 | 13.7 | 12.1 | 2.3 | B+ |
| 332 | Wolston Warwickshire | 2,693 | 15.4 | 10.5 | 3.1 | B+ |
| 333 | Upper Tean Staffordshire | 3,244 | 16.5 | 9.4 | 7.9 | B+ |
| 334 | Hardwick Cambridgeshire | 2,658 | 16.7 | 9.3 | 8.2 | B+ |
| 335 | Wing Buckinghamshire | 2,979 | 17.6 | 8.4 | 2.4 | B+ |
| 336 | Yorkley and Whitecroft Gloucestershire | 2,678 | 21.2 | 4.8 | 2.2 | B+ |
| 337 | Eastry Kent | 2,388 | 19 | 7 | 2.5 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 856 | Eastchurch Kent | 3,381 | 132 | 13.9 | 3.5 | D− |
Safety letters rank against every UK town of 1,000 or more; the order here is context only.
Graded crime per 1,000 residents a year, September 2023 to August 2026, counting from the least: towns ranked near Hardwick, and others in Cambridgeshire.
Crime in Hardwick per 1,000 residents
A crime isn’t a victim: one person can report several, and crimes in a town centre often involve visitors rather than residents.
And about 13 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 9 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
No one died in a collision on Hardwick’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 8 collisions with injuries inside Hardwick in five years. 4 people were killed or seriously injured: 1 on foot and 2 on a bicycle.
Most UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people (81%) had no road deaths in these five years, and Hardwick is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Hardwick’s size at the median for UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people would see about 2 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Hardwick had 4.
Casualties are counted where the collision happened, not where people lived: a main road through town adds through-traffic, and residents’ own risk on roads elsewhere isn’t here. Seriously injured uses the Department for Transport’s adjusted figures, which even out the police forces’ different ways of recording injuries. There’s no national rate here: more than half of road deaths in England and Wales (58%) happen outside every town’s built-up area. Source: DfT road casualty statistics (STATS19), 2021–2025.
Collisions police recorded inside Hardwick’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Hardwick
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hardwick | 2,658 | 16.7 | 9.3 | B+ |
| Highfields Caldecote | 2,049 | 14.2 | 8.3 | A− |
| Comberton | 2,255 | 15.7 | 10.1 | B+ |
| Bar Hill | 3,899 | 13.6 | 10.3 | B+ |
| Cambourne | 11,071 | 24.7 | 8.8 | B− |
| Girton | 4,384 | 8.7 | 8.7 | A |
| Oakington | 1,494 | 12.1 | 6.3 | A |
| Haslingfield | 1,535 | 11.1 | 6.7 | A |
Hardwick records more graded crime per resident than 6 of its 7 neighbours; only Cambourne records more. Highfields Caldecote, 1.3 miles away, records 14.2 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Hardwick’s 16.7.
Per 1,000 residents a year, the same three years. Tap a town for its safety page.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Where crimes happen, not where victims live. police.uk places each crime at a point near where it happened. Town centres with shops, stations, a hospital and nightlife record more crime per resident, and residents of nearby villages who come in to shop or go out are part of that count.
- Bigger towns record more per resident. Across UK towns, recorded crime per resident rises steeply with size, more than in the U.S., so a city’s grade sits low against the whole UK. The “towns its size” figures show where Hardwick sits among towns like it; they are context and don’t change the grade.
- Points are approximate. police.uk moves each point to the nearest of a set of anonymous map points, so crimes near the edge of the built-up area can fall either side of it.
Questions about safety in Hardwick
Is Hardwick safe?
Police recorded 16.7 violent and sexual offences and 9.3 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Hardwick’s built-up area). That earns a B+ for safety: less crime per resident than 67% of UK towns. Among 856 UK towns of 2,000 to 4,000 people, Hardwick is 334th from the least crime. 43% of residents live in neighbourhoods in England’s lowest-crime 10%.
Is crime going up in Hardwick?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 48%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 84%, shoplifting and theft rose 50% and anti-social behaviour fell 24%. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Hardwick?
Violence & sexual offences: 59 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came other theft (19) and drugs (15), with 25 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Hardwick compare with Cambridge?
Cambridge records 35.3 violent and sexual offences and 16.9 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Hardwick’s 16.7 and 9.3, over the same three years.
Sources: data.police.uk street-level crime, 36 months to August 2026, points inside the built-up-area boundary · ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area · MHCLG English Indices of Deprivation 2025, crime domain by LSOA (residents from ONS Census 2021) · Department for Transport road casualty statistics (STATS19), collisions 2021–2025, points inside the built-up-area boundary · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only. All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.