Photo: Colin Smith · CC BY-SA 2.0Epsom stands out for bicycle theft: 4.4 times the rate of a typical town its size
Overall, Epsom grades C− for safety (#57 of 65 in Surrey): more crime per resident than 81% of UK towns, on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. Of the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, 35% record more crime per resident. Recorded violence held steady in a year. Police counts work out at 34.7 violent and sexual offences and 17.2 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 Epsom
About the middle for a town its size
Of 181 UK towns of 25,000 to 48,000 people, Epsom has the 101st lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Frome, Prescot and Spalding, higher than Leyland, Witham and Newton Abbot. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
What sits behind Epsom’s C−
A firm grade. Built on 5,563 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Epsom 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, Epsom runs highest on bicycle theft (1.5 per 1,000 against 0.3), theft from the person (1.1 per 1,000 against 0.3) and robbery (1.2 per 1,000 against 0.5).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 1,243 | 34.7 | 30.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 624 | 17.4 | 12.4 |
| Public order | not graded | 347 | 9.7 | 5.4 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 334 | 9.3 | 6.1 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 292 | 8.1 | 6.2 |
| Other theft | not graded | 230 | 6.4 | 4.4 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 172 | 4.8 | 2.8 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 144 | 4 | 2.4 |
| Drugs | not graded | 143 | 4 | 1.9 |
| Other crime | not graded | 80 | 2.2 | 1.8 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 53 | 1.5 | 0.3 |
| Robbery | Violent | 43 | 1.2 | 0.5 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 39 | 1.1 | 0.3 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 29 | 0.8 | 0.7 |
“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.
Crime in Epsom 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 17 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 18 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 College, Ruxley and Ewell; highest in Town
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| College | 6,017 | 7.5 | 8.5 | |
| Ruxley | 796 | 12.1 | 7.1 | |
| Ewell | 968 | 13.4 | 13.4 | |
| Stamford | 7,531 | 20 | 12.2 | |
| Woodcote | 4,486 | 28.9 | 11.5 | |
| Court | 7,309 | 44.4 | 20.7 | |
| Town | 8,293 | 67.2 | 29.7 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Car parks | 1,234 | 27% shoplifting & theft |
| Shopping areas | 589 | 47% shoplifting & theft |
| Supermarkets | 562 | 39% shoplifting & theft |
| Nightclubs | 490 | 41% violent |
| Hospitals | 434 | 53% violent |
| Petrol stations | 98 | 57% shoplifting & theft |
| Sports and recreation grounds | 47 | 47% anti-social behaviour |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live, so Town records 2.7× the violent crime per resident of the rest of Epsom. 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 Epsom. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Epsom’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
Police name a suspect about as often as across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 74% of Epsom’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 21% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (61% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 7% of violent and 3% 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. 1,774 crimes.
How crime in Epsom 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 +3% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles +3% (towns its size -2%), shoplifting and theft +0% (towns its size +1%), anti-social behaviour +2% (towns its size -4%).
How Epsom’s neighbourhoods rank in England
31% 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.
Epsom’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.
Towns its size: Epsom comes 101st of 181
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heswall Merseyside | 29,082 | 14.3 | 5.5 | 3.8 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 11 | New Haw, West Byfleet and Sheerwater Surrey | 33,035 | 18.5 | 9.5 | 8.1 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 14 | West Molesey Surrey | 47,144 | 19.1 | 10.5 | 6.8 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 29 | Tadworth and Epsom Downs Surrey | 27,095 | 22.9 | 13.1 | 5.7 | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 40 | Camberley Surrey | 36,787 | 27.7 | 10.8 | 14.7 | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 98 | Leyland Lancashire | 39,281 | 37.3 | 14.2 | 14.3 | C− |
| 99 | Witham Essex | 27,395 | 37.9 | 13.6 | 13.2 | C− |
| 100 | Newton Abbot Devon | 29,650 | 40.4 | 11.2 | 14.7 | C− |
| 101 | Epsom Surrey | 35,857 | 34.7 | 17.2 | 18.1 | C− |
| 102 | Rushden Northamptonshire | 31,689 | 36.6 | 15.4 | 21.6 | C− |
| 103 | Braintree Essex | 43,179 | 39.8 | 12.4 | 15.8 | C− |
| 104 | Evesham Worcestershire | 28,256 | 37.2 | 15.3 | 17.4 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 181 | Great Yarmouth Norfolk | 28,979 | 105 | 32.9 | 33.7 | 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 Epsom, and others in Surrey.
Two people died in collisions on Epsom’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 255 collisions with injuries inside Epsom in five years, in which two people died (2 were pedestrians). 61 people were killed or seriously injured: 23 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 Epsom’s size would see about 2 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Epsom’s own rate (1.1) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Epsom had 34.0 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). 38% 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 Epsom’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Epsom
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Epsom | 35,857 | 34.7 | 17.2 | C− |
| Ewell | 27,509 | 22.4 | 16.2 | C+ |
| Langley Vale | 1,515 | 13.9 | 5.7 | A− |
| Ashtead | 14,830 | 12.6 | 7.1 | A− |
| Worcester Park and Stoneleigh | 15,851 | 13.1 | 9.6 | A− |
| Tadworth and Epsom Downs | 27,095 | 22.9 | 13.1 | C+ |
| Banstead | 8,929 | 21.3 | 12.5 | B− |
| Leatherhead | 11,482 | 40.3 | 18.5 | D |
Epsom records more graded crime per resident than 6 of its 7 neighbours; only Leatherhead records more. Ewell, 1.4 miles away, records 22.4 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Epsom’s 34.7.
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
- Big public sites inside the boundary. police.uk counted 434 at or near a hospital over three years. They count in Epsom’s rate, as they would for any town that has them.
- 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 Epsom 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 Epsom
Is Epsom safe?
Police recorded 34.7 violent and sexual offences and 17.2 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Epsom’s built-up area). That earns a C− for safety: less crime per resident than 19% of UK towns. Among 181 UK towns of 25,000 to 48,000 people, Epsom is 101st from the least crime.
What are the safest areas of Epsom?
By council ward, College, Ruxley and Ewell record the least violent and household crime per resident: 7.5, 12.1 and 13.4 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 67.2 in Town.
Is crime going up in Epsom?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime held steady, burglary, vehicle crime and damage held steady, shoplifting and theft held steady and anti-social behaviour held steady. Across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, violent crime held steady.
Is Epsom town centre safe at night?
police.uk placed 490 crimes and reports at or near nightclubs in three years, 41% of them violent, and Town ward records 67.2 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 of its residents a year. Over the last two years, violent crime peaked in June and was lowest in January.
What is the most common crime in Epsom?
Violence & sexual offences: 1,243 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came public order (347) and shoplifting (334), with 624 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Epsom compare with Merton?
Merton records 24.2 violent and sexual offences and 14.8 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Epsom’s 34.7 and 17.2, 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.