Photo: AlanFord at English Wikipedia · Public domainAmong UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, Romsey records less crime per resident than 80%
Violence recorded locally dropped 15% in a year. Typical years here bring 21.6 violent and sexual offences plus 10.7 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 residents. Its Safety Grade, B− (#40 of 76 in Hampshire), rests on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026: close to the middle of UK towns. With 20 cases in the 12 months to August 2026, robbery reaches 1 per 1,000 residents in Romsey, well above the typical 0.5.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Romsey
Violent crime fell over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 15% less violent crime per resident in Romsey than in the year before; across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people violent crime held steady. Burglary, vehicle crime and criminal damage rose 13% (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
Less crime than many places its size
Of 290 UK towns of 14,000 to 27,000 people, Romsey has the 62nd lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Catterick Garrison, Birstall and Bourne, higher than Willerby and Anlaby, Wimborne Minster and Oadby. 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. 28% of Romsey’s residents live in one of the lowest-crime 10%, and 0% 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.
What sits behind Romsey’s B−
A firm grade. Built on 1,924 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Romsey against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
1 in 4 Romsey residents lives in one of England’s lowest-crime neighbourhoods
42% 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.
Romsey’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.
How crime in Romsey has moved
“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 -15% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles +13% (towns its size -2%), shoplifting and theft -22% (towns its size +1%), anti-social behaviour +12% (towns its size -4%).
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Romsey runs highest on robbery (1 per 1,000 against 0.5), burglary (3.1 per 1,000 against 2.4) and shoplifting (7.6 per 1,000 against 6.1). 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 | 382 | 19.2 | 30.4 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 151 | 7.6 | 6.1 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 130 | 6.5 | 12.4 |
| Public order | not graded | 86 | 4.3 | 5.4 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 64 | 3.2 | 6.2 |
| Other theft | not graded | 64 | 3.2 | 4.4 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 61 | 3.1 | 2.4 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 57 | 2.9 | 2.8 |
| Other crime | not graded | 30 | 1.5 | 1.8 |
| Drugs | not graded | 21 | 1.1 | 1.9 |
| Robbery | Violent | 20 | 1 | 0.5 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 15 | 0.8 | 0.7 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 7 | 0.4 | 0.3 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 3 | 0.2 | 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.
Towns its size: Romsey comes 62nd of 290
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kesgrave Suffolk | 14,947 | 13 | 3.3 | 2.7 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 12 | Lee-on-the-Solent Hampshire | 24,307 | 17.8 | 5 | 5.3 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 18 | Yateley Hampshire | 14,676 | 17 | 8.2 | 5.6 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 23 | Tadley Hampshire | 14,767 | 19.6 | 7.4 | 6.6 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 42 | Hedge End Hampshire | 23,195 | 22.1 | 8.2 | 16.9 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 59 | Willerby and Anlaby East Riding of Yorkshire | 19,269 | 21.9 | 10.3 | 11.9 | B− |
| 60 | Wimborne Minster Dorset | 16,629 | 22.8 | 9.5 | 9.9 | B− |
| 61 | Oadby Leicestershire | 24,039 | 21.8 | 10.5 | 7.7 | B− |
| 62 | Romsey Hampshire | 19,923 | 21.6 | 10.7 | 13.6 | B− |
| 63 | Belper Derbyshire | 19,076 | 25.6 | 6.7 | 9 | B− |
| 64 | Calne Wiltshire | 19,725 | 25.9 | 6.5 | 5.3 | B− |
| 65 | Clevedon Somerset | 21,084 | 24.2 | 8.5 | 8.8 | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 290 | Rhyl Clwyd | 26,982 | 89.1 | 22.9 | 29 | 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 Romsey, and others in Hampshire.
Police in Romsey identify a suspect less often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 79% of Romsey’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” (58% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 6% 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. 676 crimes.
Lowest recorded crime in Romsey Cupernham, Romsey Tadburn and Romsey Abbey; highest in Romsey Abbey
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Romsey Cupernham | 8,963 | 16.7 | 6.9 | |
| Romsey Tadburn | 5,571 | 18.8 | 8 | |
| Romsey Abbey | 5,389 | 32.2 | 19.7 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Petrol stations | 315 | 69% shoplifting & theft |
| Supermarkets | 291 | 60% shoplifting & theft |
| Car parks | 202 | 29% violent |
| Shopping areas | 88 | 63% shoplifting & theft |
| Parks and open spaces | 55 | 31% violent |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live, so Romsey Abbey records 1.8× the violent crime per resident of the rest of Romsey. 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 Romsey. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Romsey’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
Crime in Romsey 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 11 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
One person died in collisions on Romsey’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 68 collisions with injuries inside Romsey in five years, in which one person died. 15 people were killed or seriously injured: 4 on foot and 3 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 Romsey’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Romsey’s own rate (1.0) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Romsey had 15.1 people killed or seriously injured per 100,000 residents a year, below 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 Romsey’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Romsey
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Romsey | 19,923 | 21.6 | 10.7 | B− |
| North Baddesley | 6,996 | 18.2 | 9 | B |
| Rownhams and Nursling | 4,796 | 27.4 | 22.9 | C− |
| Chandler's Ford | 31,965 | 17.5 | 6.7 | B+ |
| Chilworth | 1,169 | 22.8 | 12.3 | C+ |
| West Wellow | 1,584 | 17.7 | 9.1 | B+ |
| Totton | 28,093 | 35.3 | 14.7 | C− |
| King's Somborne | 1,206 | 17.1 | 13 | B |
Romsey records more graded crime per resident than 4 of its 7 neighbours. North Baddesley, 2.1 miles away, records 18.2 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Romsey’s 21.6.
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 Romsey 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 Romsey
Is Romsey safe?
Police recorded 21.6 violent and sexual offences and 10.7 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Romsey’s built-up area). That earns a B− for safety: less crime per resident than 50% of UK towns. Among 290 UK towns of 14,000 to 27,000 people, Romsey is 62nd from the least crime. 28% of residents live in neighbourhoods in England’s lowest-crime 10%.
What are the safest areas of Romsey?
By council ward, Romsey Cupernham, Romsey Tadburn and Romsey Abbey record the least violent and household crime per resident: 16.7, 18.8 and 32.2 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 32.2 in Romsey Abbey.
Is crime going up in Romsey?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime fell 15%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 13%, shoplifting and theft fell 22% and anti-social behaviour rose 12%. Across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Romsey?
Violence & sexual offences: 382 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came shoplifting (151) and public order (86), with 130 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Romsey compare with Southampton?
Southampton records 58.3 violent and sexual offences and 22.2 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Romsey’s 21.6 and 10.7, 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.