Photo: John Winder · CC BY-SA 2.0St Margaret's at Cliffe stands out for anti-social behaviour: 3.9 times the rate of a typical town its size
St Margaret's at Cliffe’s overall Safety Grade is B: close to the middle of UK towns, on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. Violence recorded locally climbed 12% in a year. Even so, of all the kinds of crime, anti-social behaviour is where St Margaret's at Cliffe departs most from towns its size: 20.8 per 1,000 against 5.3.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in St Margaret's at Cliffe
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 12% more violent crime per resident in St Margaret's at Cliffe than in the year before; across UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people violent crime held steady. Trend ↓
About the middle for a village its size
Of 550 UK towns of 2,000 to 3,000 people, St Margaret's at Cliffe has the 318th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Harlington, South Brent and Stewartby, higher than Hixon, Mundesley and Almondsbury. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
What sits behind St Margaret's at Cliffe’s B
A fairly firm grade. Built on 218 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks St Margaret's at Cliffe 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, St Margaret's at Cliffe runs highest on anti-social behaviour (20.8 per 1,000 against 5.3), criminal damage & arson (6.3 per 1,000 against 3.2) and violence & sexual offences (19.2 per 1,000 against 16.6).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 50 | 20.8 | 5.3 |
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 46 | 19.2 | 16.6 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 15 | 6.3 | 3.2 |
| Public order | not graded | 8 | 3.3 | 2.4 |
| Other theft | not graded | 7 | 2.9 | 2.5 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 5 | 2.1 | 1.6 |
| Other crime | not graded | 5 | 2.1 | 1.1 |
| Drugs | not graded | 2 | 0.8 | 0.6 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 2 | 0.8 | 1.5 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 1 | 0.4 | 0 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 1 | 0.4 | 0 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Robbery | Violent | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0 |
“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 1,000 to 2,500 people.
How crime in St Margaret's at Cliffe has moved
“Towns its size” pools all UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 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 +12% (towns its size +3%), homes and vehicles -21% (towns its size +0%), anti-social behaviour +85% (towns its size -1%).
Set against 550 towns its size, St Margaret's at Cliffe is 318th
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richhill Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon | 2,738 | 6.2 | 2.8 | 3 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 21 | Ightham Kent | 2,037 | 6.1 | 7 | 2.8 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 70 | Cliffe Woods Kent | 2,689 | 11.2 | 6 | 3 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 102 | Culverstone Green Kent | 2,038 | 11.5 | 7.7 | 3.1 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 235 | Eastry Kent | 2,388 | 19 | 7 | 2.5 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 315 | Hixon Staffordshire | 2,081 | 22.1 | 8 | 5.6 | B |
| 316 | Mundesley Norfolk | 2,777 | 24.5 | 5.6 | 2.3 | B |
| 317 | Almondsbury Gloucestershire | 2,937 | 24 | 6.2 | 5.8 | B |
| 318 | St Margaret's at Cliffe Kent | 2,399 | 21.5 | 8.8 | 2.6 | B |
| 319 | Hendy and Fforest Dyfed | 2,996 | 21.6 | 8.7 | 1.9 | B |
| 320 | Boughton under Blean Kent | 2,274 | 22.3 | 8.1 | 3.7 | B |
| 321 | Mickleton Gloucestershire | 2,316 | 21.1 | 9.4 | 2.3 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 550 | Avonmouth Bristol | 2,643 | 82.9 | 54.6 | 60.4 | 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 St Margaret's at Cliffe, and others in Kent.
For every 1,000 residents, about 20 violent and sexual offences in the 12 months to August 2026
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 3 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
No one died in a collision on St Margaret's at Cliffe’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 5 collisions with injuries inside St Margaret's at Cliffe in five years. 1 person was killed or seriously injured: 1 on foot and 0 on a bicycle.
Most UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people (94%) had no road deaths in these five years, and St Margaret's at Cliffe is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of St Margaret's at Cliffe’s size at the median for UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people would see about 2 people killed or seriously injured in five years; St Margaret's at Cliffe had 1.
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 St Margaret's at Cliffe’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around St Margaret's at Cliffe
St Margaret's at Cliffe records more graded crime per resident than 4 of its 7 neighbours. Kingsdown, 2.4 miles away, records 18.2 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against St Margaret's at Cliffe’s 21.5.
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 St Margaret's at Cliffe 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 St Margaret's at Cliffe
Is St Margaret's at Cliffe safe?
Police recorded 21.5 violent and sexual offences and 8.8 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside St Margaret's at Cliffe’s built-up area). That earns a B for safety: less crime per resident than 55% of UK towns. Among 550 UK towns of 2,000 to 3,000 people, St Margaret's at Cliffe is 318th from the least crime.
Is crime going up in St Margaret's at Cliffe?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 12%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage fell 21%, shoplifting and theft rose 60% and anti-social behaviour rose 85%. Across UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in St Margaret's at Cliffe?
Violence & sexual offences: 46 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (15) and public order (8), with 50 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does St Margaret's at Cliffe compare with Folkestone?
Folkestone records 49.7 violent and sexual offences and 17.2 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against St Margaret's at Cliffe’s 21.5 and 8.8, 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.