Photo: David Howard · CC BY-SA 2.0For its size, West Molesey has less crime per resident than 87% of UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people
Violent crime is lower than in 63% of UK towns; burglary, vehicle crime and damage, lower than in only 43%. Overall, West Molesey grades B for safety (#23 of 65 in Surrey): close to the middle of UK towns, on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. Violence and property crime split as 19.1 violent and sexual offences and 10.5 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 West Molesey
Less crime than most places its size
Of 148 UK towns of 33,000 to 64,000 people, West Molesey has the 10th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Horndean, Lisburn and Carlton, higher than Fleet, New Haw, West Byfleet and Sheerwater and Christchurch. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
What’s behind West Molesey’s grade
A firm grade. Built on 4,156 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks West Molesey 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, West Molesey runs highest on vehicle crime (4 per 1,000 against 2.8). Anti-social behaviour and shoplifting sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 874 | 18.5 | 30.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 324 | 6.9 | 12.4 |
| Other theft | not graded | 189 | 4 | 4.4 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 189 | 4 | 2.8 |
| Public order | not graded | 184 | 3.9 | 5.4 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 166 | 3.5 | 6.2 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 94 | 2 | 2.4 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 70 | 1.5 | 6.1 |
| Drugs | not graded | 57 | 1.2 | 1.9 |
| Other crime | not graded | 54 | 1.1 | 1.8 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 30 | 0.6 | 0.3 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 21 | 0.4 | 0.7 |
| Robbery | Violent | 10 | 0.2 | 0.5 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 7 | 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.
Of 148 towns its size, West Molesey is 10th from the least graded crime
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Metropolitan Castlereagh Lisburn and Castlereagh | 58,763 | 14.8 | 6.6 | 7.1 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 7 | Fleet Hampshire | 37,800 | 20.6 | 7 | 7.4 | B |
| 8 | New Haw, West Byfleet and Sheerwater Surrey | 33,035 | 18.5 | 9.5 | 8.1 | B |
| 9 | Christchurch Dorset | 48,973 | 18.1 | 10.4 | 10.1 | B |
| 10 | West Molesey Surrey | 47,144 | 19.1 | 10.5 | 6.8 | B |
| 11 | Haywards Heath West Sussex | 40,186 | 21.5 | 8.8 | 8.6 | B |
| 12 | Locks Heath Hampshire | 35,744 | 23 | 7.7 | 9 | B− |
| 13 | Thundersley and South Benfleet Essex | 49,886 | 20.9 | 10.6 | 7.1 | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 26 | Camberley Surrey | 36,787 | 27.7 | 10.8 | 14.7 | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 75 | Epsom Surrey | 35,857 | 34.7 | 17.2 | 18.1 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 148 | Bridgwater Somerset | 47,846 | 76.8 | 18.9 | 29.3 | 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 West Molesey, and others in Surrey.
How West Molesey’s neighbourhoods rank in England
28% 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.
West Molesey’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 name a suspect about as often as across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 73% of West Molesey’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” (63% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 9% 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. 1,491 crimes.
Lowest recorded crime in Claygate, Thames Ditton and Hinchley Wood and Weston Green; highest in Molesey East
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claygate | 7,263 | 14 | 8.2 | |
| Thames Ditton | 9,394 | 12.7 | 9.7 | |
| Hinchley Wood and Weston Green | 5,510 | 15.1 | 10 | |
| Long Ditton | 7,237 | 18 | 11.4 | |
| Molesey West | 9,171 | 26.3 | 9.5 | |
| Molesey East | 8,569 | 25.4 | 13.3 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Petrol stations | 173 | 54% shoplifting & theft |
| Supermarkets | 167 | 53% shoplifting & theft |
| Car parks | 153 | 27% violent |
| Sports and recreation grounds | 75 | 29% violent |
| Ferry terminals | 41 | 34% homes & vehicles |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live, so Molesey West records 1.5× the violent crime per resident of the rest of West Molesey. 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 West Molesey. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside West Molesey’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
Crime in West Molesey 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 10 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 6 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 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 -1% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles +12% (towns its size -2%), shoplifting and theft +5% (towns its size +1%), anti-social behaviour +20% (towns its size -4%).
No one died in a collision on West Molesey’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 282 collisions with injuries inside West Molesey in five years. 70 people were killed or seriously injured: 10 on foot and 30 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 West Molesey’s size would see about 2 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so West Molesey’s own rate (0.0) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, West Molesey had 29.7 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). 14% 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 West Molesey’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around West Molesey
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Molesey | 47,144 | 19.1 | 10.5 | B |
| Esher | 9,484 | 20 | 12.3 | B− |
| Kingston upon Thames | 166,333 | 24.7 | 14 | C+ |
| Walton-on-Thames | 27,016 | 28.5 | 12.9 | C |
| Hersham | 12,622 | 24 | 9.8 | B− |
| Sunbury-on-Thames | 21,476 | 31.9 | 18 | C− |
| Upper Halliford | 2,337 | 23.7 | 11.3 | B− |
| Worcester Park and Stoneleigh | 15,851 | 13.1 | 9.6 | A− |
West Molesey records more graded crime per resident than 1 of its 7 neighbours. Worcester Park and Stoneleigh, 4.2 miles away, records 13.1 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against West Molesey’s 19.1.
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 West Molesey 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 West Molesey
Is West Molesey safe?
Police recorded 19.1 violent and sexual offences and 10.5 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside West Molesey’s built-up area). That earns a B for safety: less crime per resident than 57% of UK towns. Among 148 UK towns of 33,000 to 64,000 people, West Molesey is 10th from the least crime.
What are the safest areas of West Molesey?
By council ward, Claygate, Thames Ditton and Hinchley Wood and Weston Green record the least violent and household crime per resident: 14, 12.7 and 15.1 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 25.4 in Molesey East.
Is crime going up in West Molesey?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime held steady, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 12%, shoplifting and theft held steady and anti-social behaviour rose 20%. Across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in West Molesey?
Violence & sexual offences: 874 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came other theft (189) and vehicle crime (189), with 324 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does West Molesey compare with Hounslow?
Hounslow records 35.2 violent and sexual offences and 21.5 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against West Molesey’s 19.1 and 10.5, 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.