Photo: Dr Neil Clifton · CC BY-SA 2.0For violent crime, Southminster trails 69% of UK towns per resident
Police counts work out at 30.4 violent and sexual offences and 7.2 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 residents annually. Its Safety Grade, C+ (#41 of 81 in Essex), rests on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026: more crime per resident than 61% of UK towns. Recorded violence rose 23% in a year. Measured against the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, 38% of them record more crime per resident.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Southminster
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 23% more violent crime per resident in Southminster than in the year before; across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people violent crime held steady. Trend ↓
More crime than many places its size
Of 706 UK towns of 3,000 to 6,000 people, Southminster has the 448th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Hope, Blackfield and Langley and Battle, higher than Cwmavon, Eye and Bisley. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
Inside Southminster’s C+ for safety
A fairly firm grade. Built on 505 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Southminster 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 Southminster 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 +23% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles +40% (towns its size -1%).
How Southminster’s neighbourhoods rank in England
0% 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.
Southminster’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 Southminster identify a suspect less often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 78% of Southminster’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 7% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (76% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 1% of violent and 0% 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. 181 crimes.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Southminster runs highest on violence & sexual offences (32.5 per 1,000 against 22.4). Anti-social behaviour sits below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 148 | 32.5 | 22.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 25 | 5.5 | 8.8 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 21 | 4.6 | 4.5 |
| Public order | not graded | 15 | 3.3 | 3.6 |
| Other theft | not graded | 14 | 3.1 | 3.2 |
| Other crime | not graded | 7 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
| Drugs | not graded | 6 | 1.3 | 1 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 6 | 1.3 | 2 |
| Robbery | Violent | 3 | 0.7 | 0.2 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 2 | 0.4 | 1.8 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 1 | 0.2 | 1.9 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 1 | 0.2 | 0.1 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 1 | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| 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.
Towns its size: Southminster comes 448th of 706
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bailrigg Lancashire | 4,788 | 4.7 | 2.5 | 7.9 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 54 | Doddinghurst Essex | 4,067 | 8.9 | 8.9 | 1.6 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 157 | West Bergholt Essex | 3,175 | 18.6 | 5.6 | 10.3 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 238 | Mayland Essex | 3,740 | 21.4 | 6.2 | 2.4 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 267 | Frinton-on-Sea Essex | 4,865 | 19.6 | 9 | 20.1 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 445 | Cwmavon West Glamorgan | 4,524 | 30.7 | 6.9 | 3.6 | C+ |
| 446 | Eye Cambridgeshire | 5,419 | 27.7 | 9.8 | 6.2 | C+ |
| 447 | Bisley Surrey | 4,045 | 32.1 | 5.5 | 5.5 | C+ |
| 448 | Southminster Essex | 4,548 | 30.4 | 7.2 | 4.4 | C+ |
| 449 | Whiston South Yorkshire | 3,940 | 23 | 14.7 | 4.8 | C+ |
| 450 | Edwalton Nottinghamshire | 4,762 | 28 | 9.7 | 7 | C+ |
| 451 | Stalham Norfolk | 3,383 | 28.2 | 9.7 | 12 | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 706 | 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 Southminster, and others in Essex.
Crime in Southminster 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 4 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 Southminster’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 2 collisions with injuries inside Southminster in five years. 0 people were killed or seriously injured.
Most UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people (81%) had no road deaths in these five years, and Southminster is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Southminster’s size at the median for UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people would see about 4 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Southminster had 0.
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 Southminster’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Southminster
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southminster | 4,548 | 30.4 | 7.2 | C+ |
| Burnham-on-Crouch | 7,806 | 31.4 | 9.2 | C |
| Mayland | 3,740 | 21.4 | 6.2 | B |
| Ramsey Island | 1,139 | 16.4 | 5 | A− |
| Latchingdon | 1,140 | 33.9 | 15.2 | C− |
| Canewdon | 1,216 | 11.8 | 7.7 | A− |
| Tollesbury | 2,811 | 14 | 4.7 | A |
| Cold Norton | 1,161 | 10.9 | 7.5 | A |
Southminster records more graded crime per resident than 5 of its 7 neighbours; only Burnham-on-Crouch and Latchingdon record more. Mayland, 3.3 miles away, records 21.4 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Southminster’s 30.4.
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 Southminster 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 Southminster
Is Southminster safe?
Police recorded 30.4 violent and sexual offences and 7.2 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Southminster’s built-up area). That earns a C+ for safety: less crime per resident than 39% of UK towns. Among 706 UK towns of 3,000 to 6,000 people, Southminster is 448th from the least crime.
Is crime going up in Southminster?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 23%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 40%, shoplifting and theft rose 6% and anti-social behaviour rose 92%. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Southminster?
Violence & sexual offences: 148 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (21) and public order (15), with 25 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Southminster 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 Southminster’s 30.4 and 7.2, 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.