Photo: Trevor Harris · CC BY-SA 2.0Hullbridge records shoplifting at 2.9 times the rate of a typical town its size
Out of every 1,000 residents, 23.0 violent and sexual offences and 8.4 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage are reported annually. Set against the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, it has less crime per resident than 55% of them. Taking everything together, Hullbridge scores B− (#24 of 81 in Essex): close to the middle of UK towns, measured on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area between September 2023 and August 2026. Violence recorded locally climbed 35% in a year.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Hullbridge
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 35% more violent crime per resident in Hullbridge than in the year before; across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people violent crime held steady. Trend ↓
About the middle for a town its size
Of 628 UK towns of 4,000 to 8,000 people, Hullbridge has the 267th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Hoylake, Whittle-le-Woods and Cottenham, higher than Whitchurch, Wareham and Whaley Bridge. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
What’s behind Hullbridge’s grade
A fairly firm grade. Built on 537 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Hullbridge 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 Hullbridge 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 +35% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles -40% (towns its size -1%), shoplifting and theft +48% (towns its size +2%), anti-social behaviour +43% (towns its size +0%).
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Hullbridge runs highest on shoplifting (5.3 per 1,000 against 1.8), vehicle crime (2.6 per 1,000 against 2) and violence & sexual offences (28.2 per 1,000 against 22.4). Anti-social behaviour and criminal damage & arson sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 161 | 28.2 | 22.4 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 30 | 5.3 | 1.8 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 30 | 5.3 | 8.8 |
| Public order | not graded | 18 | 3.2 | 3.6 |
| Other theft | not graded | 16 | 2.8 | 3.2 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 15 | 2.6 | 2 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 11 | 1.9 | 4.5 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 6 | 1.1 | 1.9 |
| Other crime | not graded | 5 | 0.9 | 1.5 |
| Drugs | not graded | 3 | 0.5 | 1 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 1 | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0.1 |
| 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.
How Hullbridge’s neighbourhoods rank in England
71% 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.
Hullbridge’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.
Police in Hullbridge identify a suspect less often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 80% of Hullbridge’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 9% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (67% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 11% of violent and 3% 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. 170 crimes.
Of 628 towns its size, Hullbridge is 267th from the least graded crime
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bailrigg Lancashire | 4,788 | 4.7 | 2.5 | 7.9 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 28 | Doddinghurst Essex | 4,067 | 8.9 | 8.9 | 1.6 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 40 | Ashingdon Essex | 6,490 | 12 | 6.7 | 2.5 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 50 | Great Notley Essex | 7,659 | 13.8 | 6.3 | 7.8 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 94 | Kirby Cross Essex | 6,036 | 17.6 | 5.3 | 3.8 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 264 | Whitchurch Hampshire | 5,291 | 22.6 | 8.7 | 4.5 | B− |
| 265 | Wareham Dorset | 5,876 | 19.6 | 11.7 | 12.8 | B− |
| 266 | Whaley Bridge Derbyshire | 4,618 | 22.4 | 9 | 9.5 | B− |
| 267 | Hullbridge Essex | 5,709 | 23 | 8.4 | 7.4 | B− |
| 268 | Kilburn and Horsley Woodhouse Derbyshire | 4,447 | 22.6 | 8.8 | 4.9 | B− |
| 269 | Wheathampstead Hertfordshire | 4,523 | 20.2 | 11.3 | 5.5 | B− |
| 270 | Virginia Water Surrey | 5,185 | 19.8 | 11.7 | 10.1 | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 628 | City of London London | 7,820 | 252.8 | 111.5 | 710 | 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 Hullbridge, and others in Essex.
Crime in Hullbridge 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 6 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.
No one died in a collision on Hullbridge’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 14 collisions with injuries inside Hullbridge in five years. 2 people were killed or seriously injured: 0 on foot and 0 on a bicycle.
Most UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people (81%) had no road deaths in these five years, and Hullbridge is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Hullbridge’s size at the median for UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people would see about 5 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Hullbridge had 2.
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 Hullbridge’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Hullbridge
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hullbridge | 5,709 | 23 | 8.4 | B− |
| South Woodham Ferrers | 16,029 | 17.9 | 6.3 | B+ |
| Rayleigh | 32,383 | 23.4 | 9.8 | B− |
| Hockley and Hawkwell | 15,430 | 14 | 7.9 | A− |
| Ashingdon | 6,490 | 12 | 6.7 | A |
| Wickford | 27,533 | 19.8 | 13 | B− |
| Runwell | 8,086 | 36.4 | 20 | C− |
| Cold Norton | 1,161 | 10.9 | 7.5 | A |
Hullbridge records more graded crime per resident than 4 of its 7 neighbours. South Woodham Ferrers, 1.5 miles away, records 17.9 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Hullbridge’s 23.
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 Hullbridge 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 Hullbridge
Is Hullbridge safe?
Police recorded 23 violent and sexual offences and 8.4 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Hullbridge’s built-up area). That earns a B− for safety: less crime per resident than 53% of UK towns. Among 628 UK towns of 4,000 to 8,000 people, Hullbridge is 267th from the least crime.
Is crime going up in Hullbridge?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 35%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage fell 40%, shoplifting and theft rose 48% and anti-social behaviour rose 43%. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Hullbridge?
Violence & sexual offences: 161 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came shoplifting (30) and public order (18), with 30 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Hullbridge compare with Southend-on-Sea?
Southend-on-Sea records 48.3 violent and sexual offences and 17.4 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Hullbridge’s 23 and 8.4, 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.