Photo: Rodhullandemu · CC BY-SA 4.0Litherland stands out for drugs: 3.7 times the rate of a typical town its size
Violent crime was up 9% in a year. Add to that, more crime per resident is recorded in 29% of the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people. Overall, it grades C− for safety (#20 of 25 in Merseyside). Its police logs show 42.0 violent and sexual offences and 13.5 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 residents a year.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Litherland
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 9% more violent crime per resident in Litherland 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 held steady (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
More crime than many places its size
Of 308 UK towns of 13,000 to 25,000 people, Litherland has the 229th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Redruth, Yeadon and Maltby, higher than Somercotes and Swanwick, Herne Bay and Rhondda. Towns its size ↓
Neighbourhood ranks
36% of Litherland’s residents live in a neighbourhood ranked in the highest-crime 20% of England (Indices of Deprivation 2025, crime domain), and 8% in the lowest-crime 30%. Neighbourhood ranks ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
The C− for Litherland, and how it is built
A fairly firm grade. Built on 3,118 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Litherland 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, Litherland runs highest on drugs (7 per 1,000 against 1.9), bicycle theft (1.1 per 1,000 against 0.3) and robbery (1.1 per 1,000 against 0.5). Burglary and other theft sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 798 | 42.6 | 30.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 209 | 11.1 | 12.4 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 185 | 9.9 | 6.2 |
| Public order | not graded | 150 | 8 | 5.4 |
| Drugs | not graded | 132 | 7 | 1.9 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 98 | 5.2 | 6.1 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 66 | 3.5 | 2.8 |
| Other theft | not graded | 63 | 3.4 | 4.4 |
| Other crime | not graded | 46 | 2.5 | 1.8 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 37 | 2 | 2.4 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 20 | 1.1 | 0.3 |
| Robbery | Violent | 20 | 1.1 | 0.5 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 14 | 0.7 | 0.7 |
| 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.
36% of Litherland residents live in one of England’s highest-crime neighbourhoods
8% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 36% 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.
Litherland’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.
Litherland against towns its size
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kesgrave Suffolk | 14,947 | 13 | 3.3 | 2.7 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 20 | West Kirby Merseyside | 13,383 | 17.1 | 7.1 | 6.9 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 28 | Formby Merseyside | 22,892 | 19.4 | 6.1 | 8.2 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 97 | Maghull Merseyside | 20,367 | 28.1 | 7.9 | 5.1 | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 173 | Haydock Merseyside | 16,143 | 33.2 | 12.7 | 11.9 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 226 | Somercotes and Swanwick Derbyshire | 15,105 | 41.4 | 12.8 | 11.2 | C− |
| 227 | Herne Bay Kent | 24,873 | 40.1 | 15 | 19.8 | C− |
| 228 | Rhondda Mid Glamorgan | 13,271 | 42.3 | 13 | 7.4 | C− |
| 229 | Litherland Merseyside | 18,752 | 42 | 13.5 | 8.8 | C− |
| 230 | Seaham County Durham | 21,660 | 34.3 | 21.6 | 17.7 | C− |
| 231 | Louth Lincolnshire | 17,415 | 41.3 | 14.7 | 14.6 | C− |
| 232 | Chester-le-Street County Durham | 23,554 | 37.2 | 18.9 | 24.7 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 308 | Sheerness Kent | 13,253 | 87.2 | 32.8 | 27.3 | 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 Litherland, and others in Merseyside.
Crime in Litherland 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 15 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 10 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
How crime in Litherland 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 +9% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles +5% (towns its size -2%), shoplifting and theft +12% (towns its size +1%), anti-social behaviour +14% (towns its size -4%).
Police name a suspect about as often as across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 69% of Litherland’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 14% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (72% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 8% of violent and 5% 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. 958 crimes.
No one died in a collision on Litherland’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 98 collisions with injuries inside Litherland in five years. 31 people were killed or seriously injured: 12 on foot and 8 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 Litherland’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Litherland’s own rate (0.0) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Litherland had 32.6 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). 39% of them were on foot, against 30% across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people.
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 Litherland’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Litherland
Litherland records more graded crime per resident than 5 of its 7 neighbours; only Bootle and Kirkby record more. Crosby, 1.2 miles away, records 31.2 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Litherland’s 42.
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 Litherland 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 Litherland
Is Litherland safe?
Police recorded 42 violent and sexual offences and 13.5 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Litherland’s built-up area). That earns a C− for safety: less crime per resident than 16% of UK towns. Among 308 UK towns of 13,000 to 25,000 people, Litherland is 229th from the least crime.
Is crime going up in Litherland?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 9%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage held steady, shoplifting and theft rose 12% and anti-social behaviour rose 14%. Across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Litherland?
Violence & sexual offences: 798 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (185) and public order (150), with 209 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Litherland compare with Liverpool?
Liverpool records 54 violent and sexual offences and 20.2 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Litherland’s 42 and 13.5, 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.