Photo: Singinglemon · CC0More crimes per resident are recorded in New Milton than in 83% of UK towns
With 15 cases in the 12 months to August 2026, robbery reaches 1.3 per 1,000 residents in New Milton, well above the typical 0.5. Year on year, 37.9 violent and sexual offences and 15.6 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage occur per 1,000 residents. On crimes police recorded inside the town’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026, it grades C− for safety: #70 of 76 in Hampshire. Violence recorded locally held about level 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 New Milton
More crime than many places its size
Of 428 UK towns of 8,000 to 16,000 people, New Milton has the 318th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Snodland, Thurmaston and Scawthorpe and Cusworth, higher than Harworth and Bircotes, New Rossington and Rossington and Birtley. Towns its size ↓
Neighbourhood ranks
26% of New Milton’s residents live in a neighbourhood ranked in the highest-crime 20% of England (Indices of Deprivation 2025, crime domain), and 30% in the lowest-crime 30%. Neighbourhood ranks ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
What sits behind New Milton’s C−
A firm grade. Built on 1,890 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks New Milton against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, New Milton runs highest on robbery (1.3 per 1,000 against 0.5), burglary (4.8 per 1,000 against 2.4) and drugs (3.7 per 1,000 against 1.9). Anti-social behaviour sits below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 421 | 35.5 | 30.4 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 134 | 11.3 | 6.1 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 96 | 8.1 | 12.4 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 92 | 7.7 | 6.2 |
| Public order | not graded | 83 | 7 | 5.4 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 57 | 4.8 | 2.4 |
| Other theft | not graded | 54 | 4.5 | 4.4 |
| Drugs | not graded | 44 | 3.7 | 1.9 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 32 | 2.7 | 2.8 |
| Other crime | not graded | 28 | 2.4 | 1.8 |
| Robbery | Violent | 15 | 1.3 | 0.5 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 11 | 0.9 | 0.7 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 6 | 0.5 | 0.3 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 4 | 0.3 | 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.
New Milton is 318th of 428 UK towns of 8,000 to 16,000
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Greasby Merseyside | 9,175 | 11.3 | 3.7 | 2.5 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 36 | Yateley Hampshire | 14,676 | 17 | 8.2 | 5.6 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 47 | Tadley Hampshire | 14,767 | 19.6 | 7.4 | 6.6 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 84 | Hook Hampshire | 9,062 | 20.8 | 9.7 | 7.2 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 141 | Emsworth Hampshire | 11,512 | 23.4 | 10.9 | 12.4 | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 315 | Harworth and Bircotes Nottinghamshire | 8,885 | 31.9 | 21.2 | 13.2 | C− |
| 316 | New Rossington and Rossington South Yorkshire | 13,911 | 37.9 | 15.2 | 7.9 | C− |
| 317 | Birtley Tyne and Wear | 13,840 | 32.8 | 20.6 | 14 | C− |
| 318 | New Milton Hampshire | 11,872 | 37.9 | 15.6 | 18.2 | C− |
| 319 | Flint Clwyd | 12,776 | 40 | 13.5 | 21.8 | C− |
| 320 | Pershore Worcestershire | 8,207 | 35.5 | 18.2 | 26.4 | C− |
| 321 | Shepton Mallet Somerset | 9,645 | 43.6 | 10.4 | 12.6 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 428 | Haverfordwest Dyfed | 12,088 | 91.4 | 28.6 | 32.3 | 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 New Milton, and others in Hampshire.
26% of New Milton residents live in one of England’s highest-crime neighbourhoods
30% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 26% 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.
New Milton’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.
Crime in New Milton 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 15 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 17 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
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 -2% (towns its size -2%), shoplifting and theft -15% (towns its size +1%), anti-social behaviour +4% (towns its size -4%).
Police name a suspect about as often as across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 67% of New Milton’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 12% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (64% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 5% 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. 649 crimes.
Lowest recorded crime in Bashley, Fernhill and Milton; highest in Milton
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bashley | 1,180 | 22.3 | 11.6 | |
| Fernhill | 3,970 | 37.9 | 15.9 | |
| Milton | 6,379 | 40.1 | 16.2 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Car parks | 270 | 26% violent |
| Sports and recreation grounds | 93 | 45% violent |
| Supermarkets | 63 | 67% shoplifting & theft |
| Police stations | 21 | 43% shoplifting & theft |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live. 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 New Milton. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside New Milton’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
One person died in collisions on New Milton’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 84 collisions with injuries inside New Milton in five years, in which one person died (1 was a pedestrian). 22 people were killed or seriously injured: 7 on foot and 5 on a bicycle.
That is about what 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 New Milton’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so New Milton’s own rate (1.7) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, New Milton had 37.4 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).
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 New Milton’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around New Milton
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Milton | 11,872 | 37.9 | 15.6 | C− |
| Barton on Sea | 6,763 | 9.6 | 5 | A |
| Ashley | 7,730 | 22 | 7 | B |
| Hordle | 1,158 | 11.5 | 5.5 | A |
| Everton | 1,615 | 8.1 | 4.5 | A+ |
| Sway | 2,437 | 14 | 13.5 | B |
| Milford on Sea | 4,364 | 12.5 | 7.3 | A− |
| Bransgore | 3,688 | 11.4 | 6.2 | A |
New Milton records more graded crime per resident than every neighbour in the table. Barton on Sea, 0.9 miles away, records 9.6 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against New Milton’s 37.9.
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 New Milton 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 New Milton
Is New Milton safe?
Police recorded 37.9 violent and sexual offences and 15.6 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside New Milton’s built-up area). That earns a C− for safety: less crime per resident than 17% of UK towns. Among 428 UK towns of 8,000 to 16,000 people, New Milton is 318th from the least crime.
What are the safest areas of New Milton?
By council ward, Bashley, Fernhill and Milton record the least violent and household crime per resident: 22.3, 37.9 and 40.1 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 40.1 in Milton.
Is crime going up in New Milton?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime held steady, burglary, vehicle crime and damage held steady, shoplifting and theft fell 15% and anti-social behaviour held steady. Across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in New Milton?
Violence & sexual offences: 421 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came shoplifting (134) and criminal damage & arson (92), with 96 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does New Milton 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 New Milton’s 37.9 and 15.6, 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.