Photo: Ian S · CC BY-SA 2.0Meriden records vehicle crime at 7.1 times the rate of a typical town its size
Recorded violence rose 37% in a year. Measured against the 1,541 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, 6% of them record more crime per resident. Across all the graded crimes, Meriden lands on C−: more crime per resident than 85% of UK towns, on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. Year on year, 27.8 violent and sexual offences and 28.1 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 Meriden
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 37% more violent crime per resident in Meriden than in the year before; across UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people violent crime held steady. Trend ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
The grade: C− for Meriden
A fairly firm grade. Built on 370 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Meriden against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
How crime in Meriden has moved
“Towns its size” pools all UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 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 +37% (towns its size +3%), homes and vehicles -26% (towns its size +0%).
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Meriden runs highest on vehicle crime (10.9 per 1,000 against 1.5) and violence & sexual offences (29.1 per 1,000 against 16.6).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 64 | 29.1 | 16.6 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 24 | 10.9 | 1.5 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 9 | 4.1 | 3.2 |
| Public order | not graded | 9 | 4.1 | 2.4 |
| Drugs | not graded | 7 | 3.2 | 0.6 |
| Other theft | not graded | 6 | 2.7 | 2.5 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 6 | 2.7 | 1.6 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 4 | 1.8 | 0 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 4 | 1.8 | 0 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 3 | 1.4 | 5.3 |
| Robbery | Violent | 2 | 0.9 | 0 |
| Other crime | not graded | 1 | 0.5 | 1.1 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 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 1,000 to 2,500 people.
How Meriden compares with UK towns of 2,000 to 3,000
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richhill Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon | 2,738 | 6.2 | 2.8 | 3 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 213 | Cheswick Green West Midlands | 2,743 | 14 | 11.2 | 1.7 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 509 | Trimsaran Dyfed | 2,190 | 42.3 | 13.2 | 4.3 | C− |
| 510 | Maple Cross Hertfordshire | 2,580 | 38.8 | 16.8 | 4.9 | C− |
| 511 | Berrow and Brean Somerset | 2,252 | 44.3 | 11.7 | 8.4 | C− |
| 512 | Meriden West Midlands | 2,203 | 27.8 | 28.1 | 7.1 | C− |
| 513 | Merlin's Bridge Dyfed | 2,220 | 46.6 | 9.6 | 5.6 | C− |
| 514 | Scholes (near Cleckheaton) West Yorkshire | 2,896 | 42 | 14.7 | 7.1 | C− |
| 515 | Smallfield Surrey | 2,613 | 42.2 | 14.8 | 10.6 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 550 | Avonmouth Bristol | 2,643 | 82.9 | 54.6 | 60.4 | 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 Meriden, and others in West Midlands.
Crime in Meriden 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 18 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 5 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
Police name a suspect about as often as across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 73% of Meriden’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” (59% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 11% of violent and 1% 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. 157 crimes.
No one died in a collision on Meriden’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 2 collisions with injuries inside Meriden in five years. 0 people were killed or seriously injured.
Most UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people (94%) had no road deaths in these five years, and Meriden is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Meriden’s size at the median for UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people would see about 1 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Meriden had 0.
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 Meriden’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Meriden
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meriden | 2,203 | 27.8 | 28.1 | C− |
| Hampton in Arden | 1,867 | 16.8 | 18.3 | C+ |
| Balsall Common | 7,094 | 13.5 | 10.2 | B+ |
| Burton Green | 1,556 | 13.3 | 13.7 | B |
| Keresley Newlands | 3,631 | 36.4 | 36.8 | D |
| Coleshill | 6,744 | 27.4 | 31 | D |
| New Arley | 1,666 | 30.8 | 13.6 | C |
| Knowle and Dorridge | 19,323 | 15.1 | 12 | B |
Meriden records more graded crime per resident than 5 of its 7 neighbours; only Keresley Newlands and Coleshill record more. Hampton in Arden, 2.4 miles away, records 16.8 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Meriden’s 27.8.
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 Meriden 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 Meriden
Is Meriden safe?
Police recorded 27.8 violent and sexual offences and 28.1 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Meriden’s built-up area). That earns a C− for safety: less crime per resident than 15% of UK towns. Among UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, Meriden has less crime per resident than 6%.
Is crime going up in Meriden?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 37%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage fell 26%, shoplifting and theft fell 47% and anti-social behaviour fell 70%. Across UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Meriden?
Violence & sexual offences: 64 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came vehicle crime (24) and criminal damage & arson (9), with 3 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Meriden compare with Coventry?
Coventry records 47.6 violent and sexual offences and 23.7 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Meriden’s 27.8 and 28.1, 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.