Photo: Chris Whippet · CC BY-SA 2.0Violent crime per resident is higher in Herne Bay than in 85% of UK towns
At 1.3 per 1,000 residents, robbery in Herne Bay runs well past the 0.5 of a typical town its size (32 recorded in the 12 months to August 2026). Behind the grade sit 40.1 violent and sexual offences and 15.0 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 people a year. It grades C− for safety on crimes police recorded inside the town’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026: #62 of 87 in Kent.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Herne Bay
More crime than many places its size
Of 249 UK towns of 17,000 to 34,000 people, Herne Bay has the 169th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Seaham, Louth and Chester-le-Street, higher than Faversham, Redhill and Newton-le-Willows. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
What’s behind Herne Bay’s grade
A firm grade. Built on 4,092 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Herne Bay 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, Herne Bay runs highest on robbery (1.3 per 1,000 against 0.5), shoplifting (12.6 per 1,000 against 6.1) and anti-social behaviour (24.8 per 1,000 against 12.4). Public order sits below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 880 | 35.4 | 30.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 618 | 24.8 | 12.4 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 314 | 12.6 | 6.1 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 214 | 8.6 | 6.2 |
| Other theft | not graded | 149 | 6 | 4.4 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 99 | 4 | 2.8 |
| Drugs | not graded | 91 | 3.7 | 1.9 |
| Public order | not graded | 73 | 2.9 | 5.4 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 57 | 2.3 | 2.4 |
| Other crime | not graded | 45 | 1.8 | 1.8 |
| Robbery | Violent | 32 | 1.3 | 0.5 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 29 | 1.2 | 0.7 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 15 | 0.6 | 0.3 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 8 | 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.
Police in Herne Bay identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 55% of Herne Bay’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 10% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (72% 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. 1,457 crimes.
Crime in Herne Bay 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 20 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
How Herne Bay’s neighbourhoods rank in England
13% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 25% 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.
Herne Bay’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.
169th of 249: Herne Bay among towns its size
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heswall Merseyside | 29,082 | 14.3 | 5.5 | 3.8 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 47 | Sevenoaks Kent | 26,474 | 19.1 | 14.8 | 17.1 | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 79 | Larkfield Kent | 26,147 | 25.2 | 13.9 | 9.5 | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 94 | Whitstable Kent | 32,185 | 27.1 | 13.3 | 19.4 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 109 | Broadstairs Kent | 25,780 | 31.6 | 13.5 | 15.1 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 166 | Faversham Kent | 20,941 | 36 | 17.6 | 17.6 | C− |
| 167 | Redhill Surrey | 32,516 | 40.6 | 13.4 | 15.9 | C− |
| 168 | Newton-le-Willows Merseyside | 24,651 | 40.6 | 13.5 | 12.4 | C− |
| 169 | Herne Bay Kent | 24,873 | 40.1 | 15 | 19.8 | C− |
| 170 | Litherland Merseyside | 18,752 | 42 | 13.5 | 8.8 | C− |
| 171 | Coseley West Midlands | 25,206 | 35.8 | 19.6 | 9.8 | C− |
| 172 | Newry Newry, Mourne and Down | 28,530 | 35.7 | 19.9 | 19.2 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 249 | Great Yarmouth Norfolk | 28,979 | 105 | 32.9 | 33.7 | 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 Herne Bay, and others in Kent.
Lowest recorded crime in Beltinge, Reculver and West Bay; highest in Heron
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beltinge | 7,017 | 14.3 | 5.3 | |
| Reculver | 2,517 | 22 | 7.7 | |
| West Bay | 4,087 | 21.9 | 8.8 | |
| Heron | 11,252 | 61.7 | 23.5 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Supermarkets | 1,027 | 71% shoplifting & theft |
| Car parks | 344 | 32% violent |
| Petrol stations | 162 | 50% violent |
| Nightclubs | 70 | 37% violent |
| Bus and coach stations | 35 | 46% violent |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live, so Heron records 3.4× the violent crime per resident of the rest of Herne Bay. 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 Herne Bay. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Herne Bay’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
How crime in Herne Bay 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 +0% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles -4% (towns its size -2%), shoplifting and theft -10% (towns its size +1%), anti-social behaviour +40% (towns its size -4%).
Two people died in collisions on Herne Bay’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 155 collisions with injuries inside Herne Bay in five years, in which two people died. 34 people were killed or seriously injured: 8 on foot and 4 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 Herne Bay’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Herne Bay’s own rate (1.6) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Herne Bay had 27.3 people killed or seriously injured per 100,000 residents a year, about the same as the median for UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people (23.8). 24% 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 Herne Bay’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Herne Bay
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Herne Bay | 24,873 | 40.1 | 15 | C− |
| Herne | 14,874 | 21.7 | 7.6 | B |
| Hersden | 2,118 | 44.2 | 15.4 | D |
| Whitstable | 32,185 | 27.1 | 13.3 | C |
| Sturry | 4,857 | 31.3 | 12.4 | C |
| Blean | 1,327 | 9 | 6 | A |
| Rough Common | 1,291 | 14.7 | 5.9 | A− |
| Canterbury | 55,107 | 61.9 | 23.2 | D− |
Herne Bay records more graded crime per resident than 5 of its 7 neighbours; only Hersden and Canterbury record more. Herne, 0.8 miles away, records 21.7 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Herne Bay’s 40.1.
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 Herne Bay 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 Herne Bay
Is Herne Bay safe?
Police recorded 40.1 violent and sexual offences and 15 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Herne Bay’s built-up area). That earns a C− for safety: less crime per resident than 16% of UK towns. Among 249 UK towns of 17,000 to 34,000 people, Herne Bay is 169th from the least crime.
What are the safest areas of Herne Bay?
By council ward, Beltinge, Reculver and West Bay record the least violent and household crime per resident: 14.3, 22 and 21.9 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 61.7 in Heron.
Is crime going up in Herne Bay?
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 10% and anti-social behaviour rose 40%. Across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, violent crime held steady.
Is Herne Bay town centre safe at night?
police.uk placed 70 crimes and reports at or near nightclubs in three years, 37% of them violent, and Heron ward records 61.7 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 of its residents a year. Over the last two years, violent crime peaked in August and was lowest in January.
What is the most common crime in Herne Bay?
Violence & sexual offences: 880 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came shoplifting (314) and criminal damage & arson (214), with 618 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Herne Bay compare with Margate?
Margate records 56.1 violent and sexual offences and 17.5 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Herne Bay’s 40.1 and 15, 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.