Photo: John Baker · CC BY-SA 2.0Lenham and Harrietsham records shoplifting at 11.4 times the rate of a typical town its size
More crime per resident is recorded in 16% of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. Recorded violence fell 5% in a year. All told, Lenham and Harrietsham grades C− for safety (#55 of 87 in Kent): more crime per resident than 80% of UK towns, on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. Behind the grade sit 35.5 violent and sexual offences and 16.3 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 people a year.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Lenham and Harrietsham
Violent crime fell over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 5% less violent crime per resident in Lenham and Harrietsham than in the year before; across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people violent crime held steady. Burglary, vehicle crime and criminal damage fell 22% (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
More crime than many places its size
Of 706 UK towns of 3,000 to 6,000 people, Lenham and Harrietsham has the 598th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Tumble, Mytholmroyd and Abercarn, higher than Esh Winning, Longstanton and Northstowe and Sutton Bridge. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
The grade: C− for Lenham and Harrietsham
A firm grade. Built on 736 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Lenham and Harrietsham 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, Lenham and Harrietsham runs highest on shoplifting (21 per 1,000 against 1.8), other theft (7.8 per 1,000 against 3.2) and other crime (3.4 per 1,000 against 1.5). Public order sits below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 163 | 34.2 | 22.4 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 100 | 21 | 1.8 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 90 | 18.9 | 8.8 |
| Other theft | not graded | 37 | 7.8 | 3.2 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 36 | 7.6 | 4.5 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 22 | 4.6 | 2 |
| Other crime | not graded | 16 | 3.4 | 1.5 |
| Public order | not graded | 11 | 2.3 | 3.6 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 10 | 2.1 | 1.9 |
| Drugs | not graded | 6 | 1.3 | 1 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 3 | 0.6 | 0.4 |
| Robbery | Violent | 3 | 0.6 | 0.2 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 3 | 0.6 | 0 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 1 | 0.2 | 0.1 |
“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.
How Lenham and Harrietsham’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.
Lenham and Harrietsham’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.
Towns its size: Lenham and Harrietsham comes 598th of 706
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bailrigg Lancashire | 4,788 | 4.7 | 2.5 | 7.9 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 42 | Cuxton Kent | 3,039 | 9.7 | 7.4 | 2.9 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 46 | Istead Rise Kent | 3,398 | 9.7 | 7.6 | 5.9 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 69 | Hildenborough Kent | 4,943 | 11.3 | 7.5 | 7.4 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 100 | Iwade Kent | 4,533 | 15.2 | 5.7 | 3.5 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 595 | Esh Winning County Durham | 3,877 | 38.7 | 12.6 | 6.4 | C− |
| 596 | Longstanton and Northstowe Cambridgeshire | 5,278 | 35.2 | 16.1 | 7.4 | C− |
| 597 | Sutton Bridge Lincolnshire | 3,912 | 37.1 | 14.7 | 7.7 | C− |
| 598 | Lenham and Harrietsham Kent | 4,763 | 35.5 | 16.3 | 29.1 | C− |
| 599 | St Asaph Clwyd | 3,483 | 39.3 | 12.5 | 10.1 | C− |
| 600 | Backworth Tyne and Wear | 4,483 | 34.6 | 17.2 | 23.3 | C− |
| 601 | Bagillt Clwyd | 5,943 | 39.3 | 12.7 | 6.1 | 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 Lenham and Harrietsham, and others in Kent.
Crime in Lenham and Harrietsham 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 14 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 30 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
Police in Lenham and Harrietsham identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 64% of Lenham and Harrietsham’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 9% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (74% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 3% 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. 234 crimes.
How crime in Lenham and Harrietsham 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 -5% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles -22% (towns its size -1%), shoplifting and theft +8% (towns its size +2%), anti-social behaviour +34% (towns its size +0%).
Where in Lenham and Harrietsham police recorded crime
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Supermarkets | 295 | 84% shoplifting & theft |
| Petrol stations | 96 | 84% shoplifting & theft |
| Car parks | 82 | 41% violent |
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 Lenham and Harrietsham. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
Two people died in collisions on Lenham and Harrietsham’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 33 collisions with injuries inside Lenham and Harrietsham in five years, in which two people died (1 was a pedestrian). 12 people were killed or seriously injured: 1 on foot and 2 on a bicycle.
Most UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people (81%) had no road deaths in these five years, so with numbers this small a single collision changes the picture; Lenham and Harrietsham’s two people are context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Lenham and Harrietsham had 50.4 people killed or seriously injured per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people (16.7).
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 Lenham and Harrietsham’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Lenham and Harrietsham
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lenham and Harrietsham | 4,763 | 35.5 | 16.3 | C− |
| Kingswood | 1,371 | 10.5 | 10 | A− |
| Sutton Valence | 1,457 | 24 | 13.3 | C+ |
| Bearsted | 8,349 | 14.8 | 7.1 | A− |
| Charing | 2,170 | 21.5 | 13.4 | B− |
| Headcorn | 3,293 | 40.6 | 20.3 | D |
| Maidstone | 109,503 | 46.4 | 17 | D |
| Sittingbourne | 54,385 | 41.3 | 17.5 | D |
Lenham and Harrietsham records more graded crime per resident than 4 of its 7 neighbours. Kingswood, 2.5 miles away, records 10.5 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Lenham and Harrietsham’s 35.5.
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 Lenham and Harrietsham 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 Lenham and Harrietsham
Is Lenham and Harrietsham safe?
Police recorded 35.5 violent and sexual offences and 16.3 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Lenham and Harrietsham’s built-up area). That earns a C− for safety: less crime per resident than 20% of UK towns. Among 706 UK towns of 3,000 to 6,000 people, Lenham and Harrietsham is 598th from the least crime.
Is crime going up in Lenham and Harrietsham?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime fell 5%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage fell 22%, shoplifting and theft rose 8% and anti-social behaviour rose 34%. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Lenham and Harrietsham?
Violence & sexual offences: 163 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came shoplifting (100) and other theft (37), with 90 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Lenham and Harrietsham 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 Lenham and Harrietsham’s 35.5 and 16.3, 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.