Photo: Marathon · CC BY-SA 2.0For burglary, vehicle crime and damage, Minster (Swale) trails 73% of UK towns per resident
Violence recorded locally dropped 13% in a year. Scored on crimes police recorded inside Minster (Swale)’s built-up area across September 2023 to August 2026, the town lands on C for safety: #38 of 87 in Kent. Compared with the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, it records less crime per resident than 56%. Recorded violent and sexual offences ran at 29 per 1,000 residents a year, and burglary, vehicle crime and damage at 13.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Minster (Swale)
Violent crime fell over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 13% less violent crime per resident in Minster (Swale) 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 fell 9% (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
About the middle for a town its size
Of 317 UK towns of 12,000 to 23,000 people, Minster (Swale) has the 155th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Guiseley, Gomersal and Birkenshaw and Midsomer Norton, higher than Conwy, Chigwell and Uttoxeter. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
Inside Minster (Swale)’s C for safety
A firm grade. Built on 2,110 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Minster (Swale) 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, Minster (Swale) runs highest on anti-social behaviour (16.4 per 1,000 against 12.4), other crime (2.4 per 1,000 against 1.8) and vehicle crime (3.5 per 1,000 against 2.8). Public order and shoplifting sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 417 | 24.9 | 30.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 275 | 16.4 | 12.4 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 124 | 7.4 | 6.2 |
| Other theft | not graded | 64 | 3.8 | 4.4 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 59 | 3.5 | 2.8 |
| Other crime | not graded | 40 | 2.4 | 1.8 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 32 | 1.9 | 6.1 |
| Drugs | not graded | 29 | 1.7 | 1.9 |
| Public order | not graded | 28 | 1.7 | 5.4 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 19 | 1.1 | 2.4 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 14 | 0.8 | 0.7 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 5 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
| Robbery | Violent | 4 | 0.2 | 0.5 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 2 | 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 crime in Minster (Swale) 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 -13% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles -9% (towns its size -2%), shoplifting and theft -7% (towns its size +1%), anti-social behaviour +0% (towns its size -4%).
How Minster (Swale)’s neighbourhoods rank in England
10% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 17% 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.
Minster (Swale)’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.
Police in Minster (Swale) identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 63% of Minster (Swale)’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 8% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (79% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 5% of violent and 6% 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. 751 crimes.
Crime in Minster (Swale) 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 6 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
Lowest recorded crime in Sheppey East, Minster Cliffs and Sheppey Central; highest in Sheppey Central
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sheppey East | 892 | 17.9 | 9.3 | |
| Minster Cliffs | 7,183 | 24.4 | 11.4 | |
| Sheppey Central | 8,369 | 34.6 | 15 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Car parks | 76 | 41% violent |
| Sports and recreation grounds | 47 | 66% anti-social behaviour |
| Supermarkets | 26 | 69% shoplifting & theft |
| Hospitals | 25 | 44% violent |
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 Minster (Swale). We show only these, never streets or homes.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Minster (Swale)’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
Set against 317 towns its size, Minster (Swale) is 155th
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kesgrave Suffolk | 14,947 | 13 | 3.3 | 2.7 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 45 | Herne Kent | 14,874 | 21.7 | 7.6 | 5 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 50 | Longfield, New Ash Green and Hartley Kent | 16,077 | 17.1 | 13.4 | 10.8 | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 81 | Hythe Kent | 14,613 | 24.6 | 8.9 | 8.7 | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 152 | Conwy Clwyd | 15,706 | 31 | 10.7 | 8.5 | C |
| 153 | Chigwell Essex | 12,251 | 24.1 | 17.8 | 5.1 | C |
| 154 | Uttoxeter Staffordshire | 14,024 | 33.1 | 8.9 | 11.3 | C |
| 155 | Minster (Swale) Kent | 16,735 | 29 | 13 | 6.1 | C |
| 156 | Porthcawl Mid Glamorgan | 15,797 | 32.1 | 10.3 | 14.9 | C |
| 157 | Aldridge West Midlands | 15,827 | 24 | 18.4 | 15.5 | C |
| 158 | Stourport-on-Severn Worcestershire | 20,302 | 27.6 | 14.9 | 10.6 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 220 | Swanley Kent | 17,209 | 35.7 | 16.8 | 16 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 317 | 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 Minster (Swale), and others in Kent.
One person died in collisions on Minster (Swale)’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 89 collisions with injuries inside Minster (Swale) in five years, in which one person died (1 was a pedestrian). 28 people were killed or seriously injured: 6 on foot and 1 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 Minster (Swale)’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Minster (Swale)’s own rate (1.2) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Minster (Swale) had 33.5 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 Minster (Swale)’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Minster (Swale)
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minster (Swale) | 16,735 | 29 | 13 | C |
| Halfway Houses | 4,396 | 25.7 | 10.5 | C+ |
| Sheerness | 13,253 | 87.2 | 32.8 | D− |
| Queenborough | 3,915 | 49.7 | 23.4 | D |
| Eastchurch | 3,381 | 132 | 13.9 | D− |
| Warden | 1,817 | 33.9 | 12.3 | C |
| Iwade | 4,533 | 15.2 | 5.7 | A− |
| Grain | 1,728 | 25.7 | 10.2 | C+ |
Minster (Swale) records more graded crime per resident than 3 of its 7 neighbours. Halfway Houses, 1.4 miles away, records 25.7 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Minster (Swale)’s 29.
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 Minster (Swale) 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 Minster (Swale)
Is Minster (Swale) safe?
Police recorded 29 violent and sexual offences and 13 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Minster (Swale)’s built-up area). That earns a C for safety: less crime per resident than 31% of UK towns. Among 317 UK towns of 12,000 to 23,000 people, Minster (Swale) is 155th from the least crime.
What are the safest areas of Minster (Swale)?
By council ward, Sheppey East, Minster Cliffs and Sheppey Central record the least violent and household crime per resident: 17.9, 24.4 and 34.6 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 34.6 in Sheppey Central.
Is crime going up in Minster (Swale)?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime fell 13%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage fell 9%, shoplifting and theft fell 7% 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 Minster (Swale)?
Violence & sexual offences: 417 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (124) and other theft (64), with 275 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Minster (Swale) compare with Southend-on-Sea?
Southend-on-Sea records 48.3 violent and sexual offences and 17.4 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Minster (Swale)’s 29 and 13, 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.