Photo: SuzanneKn at en.wikipedia · Public domainLightwater stands out for shoplifting: 6.6 times the rate of a typical town its size
Recorded violence held steady in a year. Violent crime here is lower than in 90% of UK towns; burglary, vehicle crime and damage, lower than in 71%. Across all the graded crimes, Lightwater lands on A (#4 of 65 in Surrey): less crime per resident than 87% of UK towns, on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. Each year brought 11.3 violent and sexual offences and 7.0 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage for every 1,000 residents.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Lightwater
Less crime than most places its size
Of 481 UK towns of 5,000 to 9,000 people, Lightwater has the 17th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Lydiate, Four Marks and Donaghadee, higher than Budleigh Salterton, Keyworth and Albrighton. Towns its size ↓
Many neighbourhoods rank low for crime nationally
The government’s Indices of Deprivation 2025 rank every neighbourhood in England on recorded crime. 26% of Lightwater’s residents live in one of the lowest-crime 10%, and 0% in one of the highest-crime 20%. Neighbourhood ranks ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
Lightwater: A for safety, and why
A fairly firm grade. Built on 359 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Lightwater 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, Lightwater runs highest on shoplifting (12.1 per 1,000 against 1.8), other theft (9.5 per 1,000 against 3.2) and vehicle crime (3.7 per 1,000 against 2). Criminal damage & arson and public order sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shoplifting | not graded | 79 | 12.1 | 1.8 |
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 78 | 11.9 | 22.4 |
| Other theft | not graded | 62 | 9.5 | 3.2 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 35 | 5.4 | 8.8 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 24 | 3.7 | 2 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 14 | 2.1 | 4.5 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 14 | 2.1 | 1.9 |
| Public order | not graded | 11 | 1.7 | 3.6 |
| Drugs | not graded | 10 | 1.5 | 1 |
| Other crime | not graded | 5 | 0.8 | 1.5 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 1 | 0.2 | 0.1 |
| Robbery | Violent | 1 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 0 | 0 | 0.4 |
| 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 2,500 to 10,000 people.
Among 481 towns its size, Lightwater ranks 17th for the least graded crime
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Merley Dorset | 5,489 | 8.4 | 2.8 | 3.8 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 5 | Wrecclesham Surrey | 7,312 | 11.2 | 4.9 | 4.3 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 8 | East Horsley Surrey | 5,843 | 9.2 | 7.5 | 5.5 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 14 | Budleigh Salterton Devon | 5,237 | 13.1 | 5 | 4 | A |
| 15 | Keyworth Nottinghamshire | 6,822 | 12.8 | 5.5 | 6.6 | A |
| 16 | Albrighton Shropshire | 6,983 | 13.9 | 4.4 | 5.8 | A |
| 17 | Lightwater Surrey | 6,539 | 11.3 | 7 | 11.3 | A |
| 18 | Crawley Down West Sussex | 5,775 | 13.2 | 5.3 | 3.2 | A |
| 19 | Moor Park Hertfordshire | 5,850 | 10.2 | 8.5 | 3 | A |
| 20 | Ashingdon Essex | 6,490 | 12 | 6.7 | 2.5 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 47 | Milford and Witley Surrey | 6,489 | 14.6 | 7.6 | 6.6 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 56 | West End and Chobham Surrey | 8,877 | 15 | 7.7 | 7.2 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 481 | City of London London | 7,820 | 252.8 | 111.5 | 710 | 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 Lightwater, and others in Surrey.
1 in 4 Lightwater residents lives in one of England’s lowest-crime neighbourhoods
76% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 0% 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.
Lightwater’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.
Police in Lightwater identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 58% of Lightwater’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 17% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (55% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 3% of violent and 2% 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. 111 crimes.
Crime in Lightwater 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 8 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 22 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 Lightwater has moved
“Towns its size” pools all UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 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 +4% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles +27% (towns its size -1%), shoplifting and theft +112% (towns its size +2%), anti-social behaviour -8% (towns its size +0%).
Two people died in collisions on Lightwater’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 31 collisions with injuries inside Lightwater in five years, in which two people died (1 was a pedestrian). 5 people were killed or seriously injured: 1 on foot and 0 on a bicycle.
Most UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people (81%) had no road deaths in these five years, so with numbers this small a single collision changes the picture; Lightwater’s two people are context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Lightwater’s size at the median for UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people would see about 5 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Lightwater had 5.
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 Lightwater’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Lightwater
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lightwater | 6,539 | 11.3 | 7 | A |
| Bagshot | 5,930 | 28.2 | 12.9 | C |
| Windlesham | 3,706 | 10.3 | 8.5 | A |
| West End and Chobham | 8,877 | 15 | 7.7 | A− |
| Bisley | 4,045 | 32.1 | 5.5 | C+ |
| Camberley | 36,787 | 27.7 | 10.8 | C+ |
| Deepcut | 2,163 | 23.9 | 18.8 | C |
| Pirbright | 3,920 | 10.5 | 2.6 | A+ |
Lightwater records more graded crime per resident than 1 of its 7 neighbours. Pirbright, 3 miles away, records 10.5 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Lightwater’s 11.3.
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 Lightwater 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 Lightwater
Is Lightwater safe?
Police recorded 11.3 violent and sexual offences and 7 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Lightwater’s built-up area). That earns an A for safety: less crime per resident than 87% of UK towns. Among 481 UK towns of 5,000 to 9,000 people, Lightwater is 17th from the least crime. 26% of residents live in neighbourhoods in England’s lowest-crime 10%.
Is crime going up in Lightwater?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime held steady, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 27%, shoplifting and theft rose 112% and anti-social behaviour fell 8%. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Lightwater?
Shoplifting: 79 in the 12 months to August 2026. Next came violence & sexual offences (78) and other theft (62), with 35 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Lightwater compare with Bracknell?
Bracknell records 31.9 violent and sexual offences and 13.5 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Lightwater’s 11.3 and 7, 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.