Photo: David Anstiss · CC BY-SA 2.0Larkfield has more burglary, vehicle crime and damage per resident than 77% of UK towns
Violent crime barely moved in a year. The overall Safety Grade is C+ (#32 of 87 in Kent), which means more crime per resident than 63% of UK towns, judged on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. Police counts work out at 25.2 violent and sexual offences and 13.9 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 residents annually.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Larkfield
Less crime than many places its size
Of 242 UK towns of 18,000 to 35,000 people, Larkfield has the 73rd lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Horley, Caterham and Dorchester, higher than Ewell, Abingdon-on-Thames and Didcot. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
What’s behind Larkfield’s grade
A fairly firm grade. Built on 3,059 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Larkfield 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, Larkfield runs highest on vehicle crime (4.1 per 1,000 against 2.8) and anti-social behaviour (17.9 per 1,000 against 12.4). Shoplifting and public order sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 579 | 22.1 | 30.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 468 | 17.9 | 12.4 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 156 | 6 | 6.2 |
| Other theft | not graded | 118 | 4.5 | 4.4 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 108 | 4.1 | 2.8 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 103 | 3.9 | 6.1 |
| Public order | not graded | 68 | 2.6 | 5.4 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 61 | 2.3 | 2.4 |
| Other crime | not graded | 43 | 1.6 | 1.8 |
| Drugs | not graded | 37 | 1.4 | 1.9 |
| Robbery | Violent | 22 | 0.8 | 0.5 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 12 | 0.5 | 0.7 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 8 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 3 | 0.1 | 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.
How Larkfield’s neighbourhoods rank in England
22% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 18% 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.
Larkfield’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.
73rd of 242: Larkfield among towns its size
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heswall Merseyside | 29,082 | 14.3 | 5.5 | 3.8 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 43 | Sevenoaks Kent | 26,474 | 19.1 | 14.8 | 17.1 | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 70 | Ewell Surrey | 27,509 | 22.4 | 16.2 | 13.7 | C+ |
| 71 | Abingdon-on-Thames Oxfordshire | 33,179 | 30 | 9.1 | 10.6 | C+ |
| 72 | Didcot Oxfordshire | 34,600 | 30.6 | 8.5 | 11.8 | C+ |
| 73 | Larkfield Kent | 26,147 | 25.2 | 13.9 | 9.5 | C+ |
| 74 | Larne Mid and East Antrim | 18,853 | 27.8 | 11.4 | 7.5 | C+ |
| 75 | Great Malvern Worcestershire | 33,194 | 28.5 | 10.7 | 15.8 | C+ |
| 76 | Droitwich Spa Worcestershire | 26,413 | 28.3 | 11.1 | 17.1 | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 87 | Whitstable Kent | 32,185 | 27.1 | 13.3 | 19.4 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 103 | Broadstairs Kent | 25,780 | 31.6 | 13.5 | 15.1 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 108 | Deal Kent | 28,992 | 34 | 12.8 | 8.1 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 242 | 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 Larkfield, and others in Kent.
Lowest recorded crime in West Malling and Leybourne, Larkfield North and Larkfield South; highest in Aylesford South
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Malling and Leybourne | 2,996 | 10.7 | 7.2 | |
| Larkfield North | 4,895 | 15.2 | 12.9 | |
| Larkfield South | 4,322 | 21.1 | 12.8 | |
| Ditton | 4,660 | 26.5 | 10.7 | |
| East Malling | 4,970 | 34.3 | 16.4 | |
| Aylesford South | 4,304 | 38.5 | 21.1 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Car parks | 427 | 29% violent |
| Supermarkets | 344 | 54% shoplifting & theft |
| Shopping areas | 93 | 48% shoplifting & theft |
| Petrol stations | 71 | 38% shoplifting & theft |
| Parks and open spaces | 65 | 43% homes & vehicles |
| Sports and recreation grounds | 30 | 40% violent |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live, so Aylesford South records 1.7× the violent crime per resident of the rest of Larkfield. 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 Larkfield. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Larkfield’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
Crime in Larkfield 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 12 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 9 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 -3% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles -3% (towns its size -2%), shoplifting and theft +0% (towns its size +1%), anti-social behaviour +46% (towns its size -4%).
Police name a suspect about as often as across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 71% of Larkfield’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” (67% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 7% 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. 1,155 crimes.
Two people died in collisions on Larkfield’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 171 collisions with injuries inside Larkfield in five years, in which two people died (1 was a pedestrian). 35 people were killed or seriously injured: 4 on foot and 5 on a bicycle. One person was killed on a motorway.
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 Larkfield’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Larkfield’s own rate (1.5) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Larkfield had 26.8 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). 11% 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 Larkfield’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Larkfield
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Larkfield | 26,147 | 25.2 | 13.9 | C+ |
| West Malling | 4,251 | 28.5 | 15.8 | C |
| Eccles | 1,706 | 19.9 | 8.6 | B |
| Snodland | 11,820 | 32.7 | 21.2 | C− |
| Kings Hill | 9,963 | 15.9 | 8.1 | B+ |
| Burham | 1,293 | 18.8 | 12.1 | B− |
| Wateringbury | 2,248 | 15.1 | 13.3 | B |
| Halling | 2,926 | 18.8 | 11.1 | B |
Larkfield records more graded crime per resident than 5 of its 7 neighbours; only West Malling and Snodland record more. Eccles, 1.9 miles away, records 19.9 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Larkfield’s 25.2.
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 Larkfield 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 Larkfield
Is Larkfield safe?
Police recorded 25.2 violent and sexual offences and 13.9 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Larkfield’s built-up area). That earns a C+ for safety: less crime per resident than 37% of UK towns. Among 242 UK towns of 18,000 to 35,000 people, Larkfield is 73rd from the least crime.
What are the safest areas of Larkfield?
By council ward, West Malling and Leybourne, Larkfield North and Larkfield South record the least violent and household crime per resident: 10.7, 15.2 and 21.1 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 38.5 in Aylesford South.
Is crime going up in Larkfield?
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 held steady and anti-social behaviour rose 46%. Across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Larkfield?
Violence & sexual offences: 579 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (156) and other theft (118), with 468 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Larkfield compare with Maidstone?
Maidstone records 46.4 violent and sexual offences and 17 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Larkfield’s 25.2 and 13.9, 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.