Photo: Peter Trimming · CC BY-SA 2.0South Merstham records vehicle crime at 5.6 times the rate of a typical town its size
Taking everything together, South Merstham scores C− (#53 of 65 in Surrey): more crime per resident than 77% of UK towns, measured on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area between September 2023 and August 2026. It has more violent crime than 73% of UK towns, and more burglary, vehicle crime and damage than 84%. Violent crime barely moved in a year. Year on year, 32.4 violent and sexual offences and 16.1 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage occur per 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 South Merstham
More crime than many places its size
Of 411 UK towns of 7,000 to 13,000 people, South Merstham has the 282nd lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Caldicot, Ulverston and Cheadle, higher than Brynteg, Hoo St Werburgh and New Ollerton and Ollerton. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
South Merstham: C− for safety, and why
A fairly firm grade. Built on 1,443 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks South Merstham 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, South Merstham runs highest on vehicle crime (11.4 per 1,000 against 2), drugs (3.7 per 1,000 against 1) and public order (7.3 per 1,000 against 3.6).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 301 | 30.2 | 22.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 144 | 14.5 | 8.8 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 113 | 11.4 | 2 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 83 | 8.3 | 4.5 |
| Public order | not graded | 73 | 7.3 | 3.6 |
| Other theft | not graded | 52 | 5.2 | 3.2 |
| Drugs | not graded | 37 | 3.7 | 1 |
| Other crime | not graded | 19 | 1.9 | 1.5 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 17 | 1.7 | 1.9 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 16 | 1.6 | 1.8 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 8 | 0.8 | 0.4 |
| Robbery | Violent | 3 | 0.3 | 0.2 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 3 | 0.3 | 0 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0.1 |
“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.
Police in South Merstham identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 58% of South Merstham’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 12% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (68% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 9% of violent and 6% 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. 456 crimes.
How South Merstham’s neighbourhoods rank in England
18% 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.
South Merstham’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.
South Merstham is 282nd of 411 UK towns of 7,000 to 13,000
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Greasby Merseyside | 9,175 | 11.3 | 3.7 | 2.5 | A |
| 2 | Wrecclesham Surrey | 7,312 | 11.2 | 4.9 | 4.3 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 26 | West End and Chobham Surrey | 8,877 | 15 | 7.7 | 7.2 | A− |
| 27 | Weybourne Surrey | 11,241 | 16.3 | 7.4 | 4 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 64 | Cranleigh Surrey | 10,430 | 19.1 | 8.8 | 6.9 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 279 | Brynteg Clwyd | 9,229 | 34.6 | 13.5 | 4.8 | C− |
| 280 | Hoo St Werburgh Kent | 8,758 | 37.4 | 10.9 | 4.4 | C− |
| 281 | New Ollerton and Ollerton Nottinghamshire | 10,870 | 35.5 | 12.9 | 13.9 | C− |
| 282 | South Merstham Surrey | 9,953 | 32.4 | 16.1 | 13.5 | C− |
| 283 | Holbeach Lincolnshire | 8,757 | 37.8 | 10.7 | 10.8 | C− |
| 284 | Chepstow Gwent | 11,939 | 34.2 | 14.4 | 20 | C− |
| 285 | Wells Somerset | 12,097 | 37.3 | 11.5 | 17.6 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 411 | 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 South Merstham, and others in Surrey.
Crime in South Merstham 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 21 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 7 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
Violent crime held steady over the year
“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 +54% (towns its size -1%), shoplifting and theft -43% (towns its size +2%), anti-social behaviour -3% (towns its size +0%).
One person died in collisions on South Merstham’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 39 collisions with injuries inside South Merstham in five years, in which one person died. 11 people were killed or seriously injured: 0 on foot and 2 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; South Merstham’s one death is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, South Merstham had 22.1 people killed or seriously injured per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people (16.7).
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 South Merstham’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around South Merstham
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Merstham | 9,953 | 32.4 | 16.1 | C− |
| Redhill | 32,516 | 40.6 | 13.4 | C− |
| Netherne on-the-Hill | 1,475 | 19.2 | 9.9 | B |
| South Nutfield | 1,951 | 7.2 | 8.7 | A |
| Hooley | 1,010 | 35 | 16.2 | C− |
| Chaldon | 1,441 | 7.4 | 7.2 | A |
| Bletchingley | 2,372 | 24 | 13.6 | C+ |
| Reigate | 23,774 | 20 | 9.8 | B |
South Merstham records more graded crime per resident than 5 of its 7 neighbours; only Redhill and Hooley record more. Netherne on-the-Hill, 2.3 miles away, records 19.2 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against South Merstham’s 32.4.
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 South Merstham 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 South Merstham
Is South Merstham safe?
Police recorded 32.4 violent and sexual offences and 16.1 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside South Merstham’s built-up area). That earns a C− for safety: less crime per resident than 23% of UK towns. Among 411 UK towns of 7,000 to 13,000 people, South Merstham is 282nd from the least crime.
Is crime going up in South Merstham?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime held steady, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 54%, shoplifting and theft fell 43% and anti-social behaviour held steady. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in South Merstham?
Violence & sexual offences: 301 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came vehicle crime (113) and criminal damage & arson (83), with 144 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does South Merstham compare with Redhill?
Redhill records 40.6 violent and sexual offences and 13.4 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against South Merstham’s 32.4 and 16.1, 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.