No grade for Teston, but its recorded crime is here
From September 2023 to August 2026, police recorded crimes inside Teston’s built-up area; the town has no Safety Grade. A place needs 1,000 residents for a Safety Grade; Teston has fewer, and its rate would swing with a few incidents. Police counts work out at 5.2 violent and sexual offences and 8.9 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 residents annually.
Violent crime
5.2
per 1,000 residents a year · graded
Homes & vehicles
8.9
burglary, vehicle crime, damage · graded
Shoplifting & theft
3.7
per 1,000 a year · not graded
Anti-social behaviour
1.1
reports per 1,000 a year · not graded
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
violent and sexual offences, 12 months to August 2026
9
homes & vehicles
4
shoplifting & theft
23
of the three, per 1,000
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 6 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
Trend · monthly
2 violent and sexual offences in the last 12 months, against 5 the year before
Violent crime per 1,000 a year
TestonUK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people
Homes & vehicles per 1,000 a year
TestonUK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people
“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).
By type
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Vehicle crime6.3
Other theft4.7
Burglary4.7
Violence & sexual offences3.1
Criminal damage & arson3.1
Public order1.6
Theft from the person1.6
Anti-social behaviour1.6
Shoplifting0
Drugs0
Other crime0
Bicycle theft0
Possession of weapons0
Robbery0
Violent (graded)Homes & vehicles (graded)Not gradedTypical town its size
Show as a table
Category
In the grade
Reports
Per 1,000
Typical
Vehicle crime
Home & vehicle
4
6.3
1.5
Other theft
not graded
3
4.7
2.5
Burglary
Home & vehicle
3
4.7
1.6
Violence & sexual offences
Violent
2
3.1
16.6
Criminal damage & arson
Home & vehicle
2
3.1
3.2
Public order
not graded
1
1.6
2.4
Theft from the person
not graded
1
1.6
0
Anti-social behaviour
not graded
1
1.6
5.3
Shoplifting
not graded
0
0
0
Drugs
not graded
0
0
0.6
Other crime
not graded
0
0
1.1
Bicycle theft
not graded
0
0
0
Possession of weapons
Violent
0
0
0
Robbery
Violent
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.
Teston records less graded crime per resident than every neighbour in the table.
Per 1,000 residents a year, the same three years. Tap a town for its safety page.
How to read these numbers
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 Teston 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 Teston
Is Teston safe?
Police recorded 5.2 violent and sexual offences and 8.9 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Teston’s built-up area).
Is crime going up in Teston?
Police recorded 2 violent and sexual offences in the 12 months to August 2026, against 5 in the 12 months before. With numbers this small, a few crimes change the rate a lot.
What is the most common crime in Teston?
Vehicle crime: 4 in the 12 months to August 2026. Next came other theft (3) and burglary (3), with 1 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Teston 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 Teston’s 5.2 and 8.9, 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) · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only. All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Photo: Poliphilo · CC0