Photo: Malc McDonald · CC BY-SA 2.0Christchurch beats 89% of UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people on crime per resident
Violent crime is lower than in 66% of UK towns; burglary, vehicle crime and damage, lower than in only 44%. Violence recorded locally held about level in a year. Typical years here bring 18.1 violent and sexual offences plus 10.4 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 residents.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Christchurch
Less crime than most places its size
Of 139 UK towns of 34,000 to 66,000 people, Christchurch has the 7th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Thundersley and South Benfleet, Horndean and Lisburn, higher than Billericay, Wokingham and Fleet. 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. 13% of Christchurch’s residents live in one of the lowest-crime 10%, and 10% in one of the highest-crime 20%. Neighbourhood ranks ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
Christchurch: B for safety, and why
A firm grade. Built on 4,167 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Christchurch against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
Christchurch places 7th of 139 towns its size, the least crime first
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Metropolitan Castlereagh Lisburn and Castlereagh | 58,763 | 14.8 | 6.6 | 7.1 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 4 | Billericay Essex | 34,068 | 16.9 | 9.1 | 8.8 | B+ |
| 5 | Wokingham Berkshire | 50,320 | 18.3 | 8.6 | 12.5 | B |
| 6 | Fleet Hampshire | 37,800 | 20.6 | 7 | 7.4 | B |
| 7 | Christchurch Dorset | 48,973 | 18.1 | 10.4 | 10.1 | B |
| 8 | West Molesey Surrey | 47,144 | 19.1 | 10.5 | 6.8 | B |
| 9 | Haywards Heath West Sussex | 40,186 | 21.5 | 8.8 | 8.6 | B |
| 10 | Locks Heath Hampshire | 35,744 | 23 | 7.7 | 9 | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 57 | Weymouth Dorset | 55,540 | 37.7 | 11.7 | 14.5 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 139 | Bridgwater Somerset | 47,846 | 76.8 | 18.9 | 29.3 | 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 Christchurch, and others in Dorset.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Christchurch runs highest on anti-social behaviour (15.3 per 1,000 against 12.4). Violence & sexual offences and public order sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 827 | 16.9 | 30.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 751 | 15.3 | 12.4 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 211 | 4.3 | 6.2 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 204 | 4.2 | 6.1 |
| Other theft | not graded | 167 | 3.4 | 4.4 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 134 | 2.7 | 2.8 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 114 | 2.3 | 2.4 |
| Public order | not graded | 112 | 2.3 | 5.4 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 26 | 0.5 | 0.3 |
| Drugs | not graded | 25 | 0.5 | 1.9 |
| Other crime | not graded | 25 | 0.5 | 1.8 |
| Robbery | Violent | 23 | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 15 | 0.3 | 0.7 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 5 | 0.1 | 0.3 |
“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 10,000 to 50,000 people.
1 in 7 Christchurch residents lives in one of England’s lowest-crime neighbourhoods
63% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 10% 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.
Christchurch’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.
Lowest recorded crime in Highcliffe & Walkford, Mudeford, Stanpit & West Highcliffe and Commons; highest in Christchurch Town
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highcliffe & Walkford | 10,004 | 8 | 6.7 | |
| Mudeford, Stanpit & West Highcliffe | 10,177 | 12.2 | 7.4 | |
| Commons | 9,649 | 14.3 | 9.3 | |
| Burton & Grange | 9,137 | 27.9 | 13.6 | |
| Christchurch Town | 10,006 | 28.6 | 14.4 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Car parks | 778 | 31% anti-social behaviour |
| Petrol stations | 485 | 68% shoplifting & theft |
| Supermarkets | 303 | 50% shoplifting & theft |
| Shopping areas | 88 | 33% homes & vehicles |
| Ferry terminals | 60 | 40% anti-social behaviour |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live, so Christchurch Town records 1.9× the violent crime per resident of the rest of Christchurch. police.uk places each crime at an anonymous map point; some are named for the kind of place (a supermarket, a car park), and each row adds up every place of that kind in Christchurch. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Christchurch’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
Police name a suspect about as often as across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 73% of Christchurch’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 15% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (63% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 6% of violent and 4% of household crimes reached court.
The latest outcome police.uk shows for each crime recorded in the first of the three years (September 2023 to August 2024), so most cases have closed. 1,579 crimes.
Violent crime held steady over the year
“Towns its size” pools all UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people that police.uk covers each month (Greater Manchester has no data).
Rolling six-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 +4% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles +7% (towns its size -2%), shoplifting and theft -30% (towns its size +1%), anti-social behaviour +44% (towns its size -4%).
Crime in Christchurch 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 9 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 8 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
Five people died in collisions on Christchurch’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 262 collisions with injuries inside Christchurch in five years, in which five people died (3 were pedestrians). 83 people were killed or seriously injured: 22 on foot and 26 on a bicycle.
That is more than is typical for UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people: at their median rate (0.9 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Christchurch’s size would see about 2 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Christchurch’s own rate (2.0) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Christchurch had 34.0 people killed or seriously injured per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people (23.8). 27% of them were on foot, against 30% across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people.
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 Christchurch’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Christchurch
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christchurch | 48,973 | 18.1 | 10.4 | B |
| Bransgore | 3,688 | 11.4 | 6.2 | A |
| Barton on Sea | 6,763 | 9.6 | 5 | A |
| New Milton | 11,872 | 37.9 | 15.6 | C− |
| Bournemouth | 196,453 | 37.1 | 20.4 | D |
| Ashley | 7,730 | 22 | 7 | B |
| Hordle | 1,158 | 11.5 | 5.5 | A |
| West Parley | 3,665 | 9.1 | 7.8 | A |
Christchurch records more graded crime per resident than 4 of its 7 neighbours. Bransgore, 2.8 miles away, records 11.4 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Christchurch’s 18.1.
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 Christchurch 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 Christchurch
Is Christchurch safe?
Police recorded 18.1 violent and sexual offences and 10.4 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Christchurch’s built-up area). That earns a B for safety: less crime per resident than 60% of UK towns. Among 139 UK towns of 34,000 to 66,000 people, Christchurch is 7th from the least crime. 13% of residents live in neighbourhoods in England’s lowest-crime 10%.
What are the safest areas of Christchurch?
By council ward, Highcliffe & Walkford, Mudeford, Stanpit & West Highcliffe and Commons record the least violent and household crime per resident: 8, 12.2 and 14.3 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 28.6 in Christchurch Town.
Is crime going up in Christchurch?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime held steady, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 7%, shoplifting and theft fell 30% and anti-social behaviour rose 44%. Across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Christchurch?
Violence & sexual offences: 827 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (211) and shoplifting (204), with 751 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Christchurch compare with Bournemouth?
Bournemouth records 37.1 violent and sexual offences and 20.4 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Christchurch’s 18.1 and 10.4, 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.