Photo: Jonathan Thacker · CC BY-SA 2.0Per resident, Lea records less violent crime than 84% of UK towns
For its size, it sits below 68% of the 1,541 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people on crime per resident. What’s more, the grade is A−, built on crimes police recorded inside Lea’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. Police counts work out at 13.3 violent and sexual offences and 6.6 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 Lea
Less crime than many places its size
Of 1,214 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,000 people, Lea has the 407th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Ashurst Wood, Hatton and Weston Turville, higher than Marnhull, Charminster and Brighstone. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
What’s behind Lea’s grade
A fairly firm grade. Built on 60 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Lea against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
Crime in Lea 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 4 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 5 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
407th of 1,214: Lea among towns its size
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clipsham Rutland | 1,150 | 0 | 0 | 0 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 3 | Sudbrooke Lincolnshire | 1,737 | 3.8 | 1.7 | 1 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 104 | Baston Lincolnshire | 1,576 | 8.3 | 4.4 | 0.9 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 117 | Wrawby Lincolnshire | 1,194 | 8.1 | 5.3 | 2 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 124 | Sutton St James Lincolnshire | 1,027 | 7.1 | 6.5 | 3.6 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 404 | Marnhull Dorset | 1,466 | 11.6 | 8.2 | 1.8 | A− |
| 405 | Charminster Dorset | 1,732 | 15 | 4.8 | 2.5 | A− |
| 406 | Brighstone Isle of Wight | 1,177 | 15 | 4.8 | 1.1 | A− |
| 407 | Lea Lincolnshire | 1,006 | 13.3 | 6.6 | 2.3 | A− |
| 408 | Tackley Oxfordshire | 1,073 | 15.5 | 4.4 | 2.8 | A− |
| 409 | Ditchling East Sussex | 1,123 | 8 | 11.9 | 2.4 | A− |
| 410 | Launton Oxfordshire | 1,374 | 14.6 | 5.3 | 2.7 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 1214 | Ingoldmells Lincolnshire | 1,928 | 259 | 64.7 | 57.2 | 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 Lea, and others in Lincolnshire.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 16 | 15.9 | 16.6 |
| Other theft | not graded | 5 | 5 | 2.5 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 5 | 5 | 5.3 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 4 | 4 | 1.6 |
| Public order | not graded | 3 | 3 | 2.4 |
| Other crime | not graded | 2 | 2 | 1.1 |
| Drugs | not graded | 1 | 1 | 0.6 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 0 | 0 | 3.2 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 0 | 0 | 1.5 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 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.
16 violent and sexual offences in the last 12 months, against 12 the year before
“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).
No one died in a collision on Lea’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 4 collisions with injuries inside Lea in five years. 3 people were killed or seriously injured: 0 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 Lea is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Lea’s size at the median for UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people would see about 1 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Lea had 3.
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 Lea’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Lea
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lea | 1,006 | 13.3 | 6.6 | A− |
| Gainsborough | 21,899 | 66.4 | 32 | D− |
| Beckingham | 1,207 | 16 | 9.9 | B+ |
| North Leverton with Habblesthorpe | 1,079 | 18.5 | 9.3 | B |
| Sturton by Stow | 1,485 | 23.3 | 7.9 | B− |
| Misterton | 2,191 | 23.3 | 12.9 | C+ |
| Clarborough | 1,220 | 17.2 | 10.4 | B |
| Saxilby | 4,432 | 19.4 | 8.4 | B |
Lea 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.
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 Lea 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 Lea
Is Lea safe?
Police recorded 13.3 violent and sexual offences and 6.6 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Lea’s built-up area). That earns an A− for safety: less crime per resident than 83% of UK towns. Among 1,214 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,000 people, Lea is 407th from the least crime.
Is crime going up in Lea?
Police recorded 16 violent and sexual offences in the 12 months to August 2026, against 12 in the 12 months before. With numbers this small, a few crimes change the rate a lot.
What is the most common crime in Lea?
Violence & sexual offences: 16 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came other theft (5) and burglary (4), with 5 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Lea compare with Retford?
Retford records 32.9 violent and sexual offences and 16.2 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Lea’s 13.3 and 6.6, 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.